Mini Pistachio Macarons

There are two thoughts on making pistachio macarons.

One is to make the macaron shells with ground pistachios in addition to making a pistachio filling. And the other is to keep the shells classic almond and just add a flavorful pistachio filling. My preference is the latter. 

I feel that the flavor of the almond shells is neutral enough to not muddle the taste of a rich pistachio filling and I prefer sticking with my tried and true recipe for macaron shells because then I have some reassurance they'll turn out. Macaron ingredients are not cheap and I don't want to risk having them wasted.

The secret ingredient of these Mini Pistachio Macarons is the decadent filling, made with toasted and ground pistachios, pure pistachio extract, unsalted butter, powdered sugar and a pinch of sea salt. The result is rich, lightly sweet and very pistachio-y. It's just perfect!

Two necessary ingredients for a great pistachio filling.

Here's the recipe:

Mini Pistachio Macarons
(makes 75 quarter-sized macarons)
180g ground almonds, sifted
270g powdered sugar, sifted
150g egg whites, aged 2 to 4 days in the fridge and then brought to room temperature
100g granulated sugar
moss green gel coloring

lemon yellow gel coloring

Line five heavy baking sheets with good quality parchment paper and set aside. Also, set aside two pastry bags for the piping of the macarons.

Sift together your ground almonds with the powdered sugar and set aside.

Whisk the egg whites (at room temperature) to glossy firm peaks adding the granulated sugar gradually in four parts.  Towards the end of mixing, add the gel colorings to achieve a deep pistachio green. The color of macarons lighten after baking so be sure to color the meringue more intensely than you want the macarons to turn out.

Incorporate the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites using a large rubber scraper.  Mix well. 

Fold the mixture with the rubber scraper by pulling down the sides and flipping the mixture over. Do this until you have a smooth mixture that falls like a “ribbon” off the scraper.

Transfer the mixture into the two piping bags. Use rubber bands to close the piping bags. Clip the tip of the bags, one at a time, and pipe small nickel sized rounds, leaving 1-inch of space between each because they spread as they set.

Piped macarons resting before baking.

Leave to set for about 30 minutes or until the top has formed a crust and is not sticky to the touch.

While they are setting, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. A convection oven is preferable. 

Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for 8 to 11 minutes or until the cookie is firm, matte and doesn't wobble when touched.

Leave on the baking tray until cool then lift them all off the parchment carefully. You may need to use a thin knife to help lift them off.

Sort into pairs and fill with Pistachio Filling

Sorted macarons ready for some filling.

Pistachio Filling
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
pinch sea salt
1/2 teaspoon pure pistachio extract
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup pistachio meats
moss gel coloring (optional)

Lay the pistachio meats on a parchment lined baking sheet and toast them in a 350-degree oven for 5 to 7 minutes or until toasted and golden brown.

Pistachio meats ready to be toasted.

Grind the pistachios in a food processor until they are a fine powder. Add the powdered sugar and pulse to combine.

The toasted pistachio meats in the food processor.

Grind the meats to a fine powder.

Add powdered sugar.

The pistachio mixture is ready to be whipped into the butter and enhanced with pistachio extract and sea salt.

Place the pistachio mixture in a mixing bowl with the butter, sea salt and pistachio extract. Whip on high speed until light and creamy. Tint with coloring if desired.

Transfer the mixture to a piping bag for the filling of the macarons.

The finished filling. I tinted it with a bit of moss green gel coloring.

Filled Mini Pistachio Macarons. Keep the macarons chilled until you are ready to serve them.

Chocolate Sheetcake

I needed to make a super-sized dessert to serve at the Wednesday Community Meal tomorrow and so I created this moist chocolate sheetcake. I love making sheetcakes because they come together quickly and because you serve them right from the pan, they are a breeze to frost since they require just a top coat.

I made a double batch of the recipe for my extra large 13 x 19 -pan and after the cake cooled, frosted it with buttercream that will be very hard to recreate.  I had some raspberry and salted caramel buttercreams in my freezer left over from making macarons, so I added to those to a package of cream cheese, a stick of unsalted butter, vanilla, a cup of cocoa powder and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and whipped it until it was smooth and creamy. My nephew who is my official taste tester said "oh, that's gooood," when he took a taste.

It's fun getting creative and using leftovers to make something special. And really, just about any frosting would be great with this easy cake.

Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Sheetcake 
1 1/2 cups boiling water
3/4 cocoa powder
2 teaspoons espresso powder
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 large eggs

Grease and flour a 11 x 17 baking pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the water, cocoa powder and espresso powder until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

In another medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt and set aside.

In a stand mixer, whip together the butter, sugars and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and whip after each addition until the mixture is smooth and well-combined.

Alternately add the flour and cocoa/water mixture in three additions, beating after each on low speed until blended.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the cake cool completely in the pan before frosting. Enjoy!

Art Festival Cookies

I'm catering a lunch at an arts festival this Saturday at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral and cookies are on the menu.

At first I thought I'd just make chocolate chip since they're crowd pleasing and quick to whip up. But in the end, I decided I should also offer another choice and come up with a cookie that's "artsy" and celebratory.

Decorated cookies, which I consider my art, were an obvious choice except that they're not easy to make in large quantities unless you do something really basic.

So I decided to go for round cookies decorated in an few bright colors. I love how these turned out, they are simple yet high impact and will be a colorful addition to my menu.

When you are just adding a base coat to a cookie, it's important that you keep the icing clean and neat and avoid smudges and smears. The secret is to use 15 second icing for the outline and flooding — That's icing that settles back into place in 15 seconds after you draw a line through it with the back of a spoon. This consistency is important when you are working on a small cookie and want the icing to settle and be smooth yet be stiff enough to not run out and over the edges of your cookies.

Once you get the hang of outlining and flooding, it goes very quickly. I was able to decorate 100 cookies in two hours — That's just 1 minute and 20 seconds per cookie!

Here's more information on the arts festival which is free and open to everyone. The Trinity Arts Commission has worked very hard putting together a special event that celebrates a variety of art mediums and offers something for all ages.  There will even be two performances of the play "A Wrinkle in Time."

If you would like to partake in the noon lunch, tickets cost $7.50 and can be purchased at the festival. I hope to see you there!

Trinity Arts Festival 

"A Wrinkle in Time"
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (147 NW 19th Ave, Portland, OR)

SATURDAY SPECTACULAR

May 16 - 10:00 a.m.- 9:00 p.m.

Free admission to all events.

Childcare available 10-12 and 1-5:30 in the nursery.

All Day

CAULDRON ~ multimedia installation

IF YOU FELT THE SAME ~ multimedia installation

ARTISTS AMONG US ~ 15th Anniversary Exhibition

YOUTH ART EXHIBIT

MOVING OUTSIDE ~ outdoor fiber art exhibit

LIVE PAINTING DEMONSTRATIONS

ICON WRITING DEMONSTRATION

10:00 a.m.

AMAZING PORTAL ~ puppet theater (children/youth)

11:00 a.m.

SYMBOLS, STORIES, SELF, AND STARDUST ~ ceramic arts

COSTUME MAKING ~ workshop (children/youth)

RED DOOR READERS ~ readings

11:30 a.m.

YOUTH CHOIR PERFORMANCE ~ brief concert

12:00 p.m.

LUNCH ($7.50/person, Kempton Hall)

1:00-4:00 p.m.

ORGAN WITHOUT STOPS ~ marathon concert

DROP-IN ARTS & CRAFTS ~ kids

1:00 p.m.

MOVE! DANCE! PLAY! SING! ~ participatory session for kids

BOOK DISCUSSION ~ Book of Creation, John Philip Newell

LIFT UP YOUR VOICE & SING ~ beginning voice class

TIME & MULTIMEDIA ART ~ panel discussion

PLAYFUL INTUITIVE PAINTING ~ workshop

TRANSPARENT SNOW GLOBE COLUMN ~ interactive installation

2:00 p.m.

MOVE! DANCE! PLAY! SING! ~ participatory session for kids

WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION ~ presentation

SONGWRITING AS TRUTH-TELLING ~ participatory workshop

THE HERO'S JOURNEY IN SCI-FI & FANTASY ~ presentation

3:00 p.m.

SACRED DANCE & LABYRINTH WALK ~ guided session

UNLIMITED: A DOCUMENTARY ~ screening

INSPIRATIONAL FIBER WALL HANGINGS ~ discussion

4:00-5:30 p.m. & 7:00-8:30 p.m.

A WRINKLE IN TIME ~ dramatic adaptation by John Glore

And, here's how to make Colorful Cookies:

Sugar Cookie Cutouts
Makes about 4 dozen 2-inch cookies

1 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

 In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until blended, then beat on high speed until creamy. Add egg, vanilla and almond extract and beat until well blended. Add flour and salt; beat on low speed until combined, then on medium speed until well blended. Divide dough into two equal portions. Place dough between sheets of plastic wrap. Press evenly into a disk and chill until dough is firm, at least 20 minutes. Working with one portion of dough at a time (keep remaining chilled), peel off plastic wrap and roll on a floured board until 1/4 inch thick. Cut with floured cutters and transfer onto bare baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees (325 for convection) for 7 to 9 minutes or until firm to the touch and slightly darker brown around edges. Cool on wire racks.

I used a small 1.5-inch round cutter to cut the cookies. When I make small sized cookies I'm careful not to roll the dough to thin since I want the cookie to be satisfying and perfectly balanced with the sweet icing. I aim for 1/4-inch.

Royal Icing
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder
6 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Food coloring

In a large bowl combine meringue powder, water and lemon juice and stir until meringue powder is dissolved. Add powdered sugar and with an electric mixer on low speed, beat until evenly moistened. Then beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form. Divide and tint as desired and add water a few drops at a time to get desired consistency.

Using 15 second icing and a #2 tip, outline and fill in the cookie.

Use a skewer or scribe tool to manipulate the icing, evenly distribute it and fill in any gaps. Give the cookie a gentle shake to help the icing settle and that's all there is to it. Let the cookies dry completely before packaging or serving. This takes about 6 to 8 hours.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I find it hard to eat just one of these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are chewy, chocolatey and one of my favorites.

The secret to making these is to use premium dark chocolate chips (I used Callebaut Belgian dark chocolate chips but I also like Fred Meyer Private Selection Dark Chocolate Chunks) and a hearty dose of sea salt which in my opinion makes just about every sweet so much better.

This is a quick recipe to make and something I often find myself throwing together last minute.


Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
(makes 4 dozen cookies)

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4  teaspoon sea salt
4 3/4 cups old fashioned oatmeal
2 cups dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl cream together the shortening, butter, sugars and vanilla.  Add the eggs, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Add the flour and mix again. Finally stir in the oatmeal and chocolate chips.

Scoop 1-inch balls and place 1-inch apart on lightly greased or parchment-lined sheetpans. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Let the cookies cool a bit on the sheetpan before transferring them to cooling racks.

Surprise Silver Macarons

The thing about macarons is that the color of the batter changes during baking. It always lightens, but by how much varies, depending on the color, brand and how much of it you've used.

It really is a gamble to get the color to turn out how you want and this can be frustrating, especially when you have a very specific color in mind.

To be honest, I've rarely gotten the exact color I've aimed for and sometimes I'm disappointed and sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised,  like today, when my blue macarons magically turned silver. I'd never thought of making silver macarons before but I like them a lot.

I used a new gel coloring, Wilton's Delphinium Blue, and they went into the oven fairly bright blue and came out silver, not grey, but gleaming silver. 

The color that will get you silver macarons.

Piped macarons ready for the oven. I had no idea these would change so much during baking.

A side by side comparison of the batter and the baked macarons.

I didn't know I wanted silver macarons but I do! These will look beautiful displayed with my Gardenia Cookies at this Saturday's Billie Holiday Alternative Liturgy.

Finished silver macarons for the Billie Holiday Alternative Liturgy on Saturday. I filled them with a lightly sweet mixed-berry buttercream.

Happy Pi Day!

It's Pi Day and this year it's extra special because we get to add two more digits to the equation (3.1415) and that won't happen for another hundred years!

It's really not too late make homemade pie to celebrate that wonderful, always the same, more than a trillion digit number that's the ratio of every circle's circumference to its diameter.

The record for memorizing digits of Pi certified by Guinness Book of World Records is 67,890 digits, recited in China by Lu Chao in 24 hours and 4 minutes on November 20, 2005. Now that's very impressive but not necessary, knowing the first five digits will suffice. There's even a handy symbol too — π, which is the Greek symbol for the letter "p" which was taken from the Greek word for "perimeter." 

Now back to the pie part of Pi Day, this chocolate cream pie is so simple to make and a family favorite. It can be made in 30 minutes and then just needs to chill in the fridge for a couple hours before serving. 

Here's the recipe:
Chocolate Cream Pie
(makes 1 9-inch pie)

First, make and bake a 9-inch pie crust. I used my favorite shortening crust recipe.

Pie Crust: 
1 1/2 cups flour
2 /3 cups vegetable shortening
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and sugar. Add Crisco and using your fingers, break it into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs with some large pieces remaining.

Add the water, just a few tablespoons at a time until the dough is moist enough to pull together into a ball. Roll out on a floured surface for the bottom crust.

Place the dough in a pie pan and crimp the edges. Bake for 5 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes or until the crust is set and golden brown.

Filling:

1 2/3 cups water

3 tablespoons cornstarch
5 tablespoons cocoa
1 (14 ounce) can eagle brand sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

In a medium-sized saucepan, use a whisk to mix the water and cornstarch and cocoa until smooth.

Stir in Eagle Brand milk and the three egg yolks.

Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly until it becomes thick. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla.

Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes before pouring into the baked pie shell. 

Let the pie cool at room temperature for 15 minutes before transferring to the refrigerator. Let the pie cool completely before slicing and serving.

Walnutty Chocolate Chip Cookies

I enjoy making fancy decorated cookies but truth be told, there really isn't anything that tastes better than chocolate chip — Especially when they're served warm with a glass of cold milk.

This recipe is my version of the classic Tollhouse recipe with walnuts.

My tweaks to the original are to use dark chocolate chips, heartier doses of vanilla and sea salt and use shortening in addition to unsalted butter. The butter adds flavor and the shortening adds chewiness and softness to the cookie, which is the way I like them. I think you'll like them too.

Here's the recipe:

Walnutty Chocolate Chip Cookies
(makes about 5 dozen 2-inch cookies)

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3 1/2 cups flour
3 cups dark chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, whip together the butter, shortening, sugars and vanilla until light and creamy. Add the eggs and mix until well-combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Add this to the butter/egg mixture and mix until well-combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and waltnuts.

The finished cookie dough ready to be scooped.

Use a 1-inch scoop or teaspoon to scoop balls of dough and place them 2-inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.

Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or until they are golden brown just around the edges. Let the cookies cool for about 10 minutes on the sheetpans before transferring them to a baker's rack to cool completely.

Valentine's Day Macarons

I want to share with you these cute Valentine's Day Macarons that I made for Inga Dubay and Barbara Getty's Handwriting Workshop held today at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.

I made them by whipping up a batch of salted caramel mini macarons and then once the macaron shells had baked and cooled, I drew on little hearts using a pink AmeriColor edible ink pen. It was so easy to do and now I can't stop thinking of other designs I want to attempt. I have a feeling green clovers for St. Patrick's day will be up next but I'm getting ahead of myself.  

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's how I made them:

I made a batch of salted caramel macarons.

After baking, I sorted the shells into pairs and drew a heart on one of them using a pink edible ink pen.

Then I added the salted caramel filling and put the cookies together.

Cookies plated and ready to be served at the handwriting workshop. All of them were enjoyed but the macarons were gobbled up first. I heard one boy tell his mom "the macarons were gone in 5 minutes." Next year I'll remember to make more.

My Sweet NYC Experiences

Eleanor and I on top of the Empire State Building.

Okay, I admit it. I eat a lot when I travel because in addition to seeing new things, I want to taste new things, especially sweet things.

My recent trip to New York with my family was lots of fun and I tasted quite a few sweet treats that I won't forget and am just going to have to try to recreate.

It was nice having my husband and daughter with me so that together we could taste a lot without over-indulging. Each day, we'd splurge on a sweet treat and split it three ways, enjoying it slowly together and then taking turns rating it and giving it a thorough review. There's no doubt about it, we take our sweets very seriously, but doing it this way is also lots of fun and gets us interacting.


In order, here is my list of the best sweets we tried:

Cereal Milk Soft Serve from Momofuku Milk Bar

Cereal Milk Soft Serve

Hands down, my favorite was Cereal Milk Soft Serve from Momofuku Milk Bar which has multiple locations throughout the city. The company has trademarked the process of making Cereal Milk so darn it, I don't know if I'll ever be able to taste it anywhere else.

Cereal Milk is lightly sweet with a hint of a cereal taste just like the milk in the bottom of your cereal bowl. I'm pretty sure the cereal they use to make it is cornflakes but that wasn't divulged. You can buy Cereal Milk and Pretzel Milk in a bottle to drink straight up or you can have the Cereal Milk Soft Serve and that's what I went absolutely bonkers for. It's sooo good! It's not too sweet and the best part is you get to eat it with a wooden spoon which in my opinion always makes a frozen treat taste better.

Corn Cookie from Momofuku Milk Bar

We noticed that just about every patron at Momofuku Milk Bar ordered a Corn Cookie and that's why we had to try one too.

My next favorite treat also came from Momofuku Milk Bar and that was the Corn Cookie and unlike Cereal Milk, the recipe can be found online and in the cookbook "Momofuku Milk Bar" by Christina Tosi. The Corn Cookie was, like the Cereal Milk Soft Serve, sweetened just right.

The best way for me to describe the Corn Cookie is to say it's dense, chewy, very corny and satisfying. It's a simple looking cookie with complex flavors and unlike any cookie I've ever tasted. There is one conundrum about Tosi's recipe though, it calls for freeze-dried corn powder which I can only imagine is hard to find if you don't live in NYC.  Momofuku Milk Bar sells it at its locations.

Rosemary Olive Oil Macaron from Macaron Parlor

Macarons from Macaron Parlor. Clockwise from top left: Rosemary Olive Oil, Party Time, Earl Gray and Corn — I'm thinking corn might be the next hot dessert flavor!

Then there was the Rosemary Olive Oil Macaron from Macaron Parlor. It wasn't a savory macaron but a sweet one filled with a rosemary scented olive oil ganache. It was different but divine. My husband and daughter's faces just lit up after one taste because they didn't know what to expect and were very pleasantly surprised. This is one I'm going to have to recreate for sure.


Banana Caramel Macaron from Financier

A giant Banana Caramel Macaron from Financier.

Another top-notch macaron we tasted came from Financier which lucky for us had a shop just a few blocks from where we were staying. Their macarons got my attention right away because of their size, they are at least 3.5 inches in diameter, and as a macaron baker this impressed me because they were still cooked evenly with a perfect texture — crunchy on the outside and dense and chewy on the inside. The larger the macaron, the more difficult it is to get the texture right and I have no idea how they did it.  Our choice at Financier was a Banana Caramel Macaron which fortunately was made with real bananas and not artificial flavoring. It was delicious.


Flourless Chocolate Cake from Magnolia Bakery

Flourless Chocolate Cake from Magnolia Bakery

A final treat that I have to mention is the Flourless Chocolate Cake from Magnolia Bakery. It was soft, light, dense and chewy all at once and very very chocolaty. "Um, now this is good," declared Eleanor, my chocoholic daughter, after her first bite.  One $4 cake, split three ways, was completely satisfying and now I know why the clerk at the shop said "Now that's a good choice" when I said I was buying one dessert to share.

Other food related highlights from our trip:

My husband kindly helped us navigate our way via Subway to N.Y. Cake at 56 West 22nd Street. It was worth seeing but I have to say I found it overwhelming and overpriced. The space is tight due to the jam packed shelves and there weren't any deals — just a large selection. I saw some Valentine cupcake liners that I liked but they were $25 for 500 — yikes! that's .20 each. Even with shipping, the deals are better online. Well, now I know.

While walking in the West Village I saw this magnificant bakery with a crazy long line and people pressed up to the large picture window outside just watching and taking pictures. I was immediately intrigued and snapped this picture from the outside through the window. The really strange part is that there was no signage indicating the name of the bakery. What was this place?!

Then I saw there was something on the boxes they were packing and snapped a pic and had my eagle-eyed daughter read it. It said Aux Merveilleux de Fred. So I researched it online and found that it's a French pastry shop owned by Frederic Vaucamps and famous for it's one-of-a-kind light meringue and cream coated Merveilleux Cakes and soft brioches that the shop calls Cramiques. The NYC shop is the first outside of Europe and just opened this year on January 9th. After learning this I wish I had waited in line for a taste but it was fun playing investigator and I'm going to have to make a bee-line for it the next time I visit NYC.

Decorating Tip: A Touch Of Blue Makes White

I'm making lots and lots of French macarons filled with dark chocolate, toasted coconut and coconut buttercream for a wedding this weekend.

I wanted the macaron shells to be white so I used a decorating tip that I learned nearly 20 years ago when I was writing an article on homemade wedding cakes for The Yakima Herald Republic and interviewing wedding cake decorators.

The tip I learned is that just the smallest touch of blue coloring whitens a buttercream. The reason behind this is that blue is the complementary color of yellow, the color of the butter, so adding the blue negates the yellow and turns the buttercream white.

For the article I made my very first wedding cake. When it was done, I was so anxious for someone besides myself to see it that I called my dad who was at work.  It was in the middle of the afternoon but my dad, understanding my need to show off the cake, drove over to my house just to see it. He even brought his co-worker with him which I thought was so sweet.

The macaron batter is yellowish from the almond meal so the touch of blue trick worked like a charm. You have to be careful though to not add too much. All you need is to put the tiniest amount of blue coloring on the end of a toothpick and just touch the batter lightly with it. Then, mix the batter and watch the magic happen.

After baking the macaron shells I filled them with dark chocolate, toasted coconut and coconut buttercream. I love how these turned out.

The piped macarons.

After baking.

The shells, sorted into pairs.

Filling the macarons.

All done!

Mini Cheesecakes

One recipe makes 60 mini cheesecakes. Serve them as is or add your choice of toppings like a dollop of lemon curd, chocolate or sweetened strawberries.

These mini cheesecakes are perfect for a potluck or party. Just be sure to bake them a day in advance so that they have plenty of time to chill before serving.

They taste delicious as is but look especially nice with pretty toppings like a drizzle of melted chocolate, lemon curd, sweetened diced strawberries or cherry pie filling.

Mini cheesecakes topped with melted chocolate and chopped Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. These may look fancy but they are so easy to make.

If you would rather make one large cheesecake, use a 10-inch nonstick springform pan and increase the baking time to one hour.

Here's the recipe:

Mini Cheesecakes
(makes 60)
2 1/2 cups graham cracker or vanilla wafer crumbs
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softenened
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Line 60 mini muffin cups with paper liners.

In a medium sized bowl mix the graham cracker or vanilla wafer crumbs with the sugar and melted butter. Press a teaspoon of this mixture into the bottom of each of the mini muffin cups.

Whip the cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add the sweetened condensed milk and whip again until smooth.

In a small bowl combine the eggs, flour, lemon juice and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Add the egg mixture to the cream cheese mixture and whip again until smooth and well combined.

Fill each of the muffin cups with cream cheese filling.

Bake for 16 to 20 minutes or until the center of each cheesecake is set.

Let the cheesecakes cool at room temperature for one hour and then chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before removing from the papers and serving with your choice of toppings.


Topping ideas:

Melted chocolate drizzle and chopped peanut butter cups

Sweetened diced strawberries

A dollop of lemon curd and a fresh raspberry

Cherry pie filling