Mini Pink Cheesecakes

I usually make these Mini Cheesecakes for Heller's Bakery. Since I have lots of fresh strawberries, I decided to puree and cook them instead of decorating my cakes with fresh ones. They tend to dry quickly which is not attractive on the shelf. I would normally brush them with Apricot glaze for shine but it's not enough to keep for a few days. Plus, converting them into a sauce helps keep longer in the fridge or freezer. To give it a bright pink shade, I used a drop of red food coloring. I used some of the sauce mixed with a little gelatin in the center of the cake for flavor and contrast. I found these colorful sprinkles at Marshall's in their food aisle.

I used the same "Basic Cheesecake" recipe. For the pink whipped cream, I folded in some of the strawberry sauce and red food coloring.

Pumpkin Cheesecakes

I've made these Pumpkin Cheesecakes for Halloween for the first time. I just used some autumn and Halloween sprinkles over whipped cream for the decoration.


"BASIC CHEESECAKE"

Crust
Graham Crackers, ground
Melted butter, some
Granulated sugar, some

Blend all together and spread on bottom and sides of a spring form pan. Refrigerate while preparing the filling.

Cheesecake filling

2-8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup Granulated sugar
2 Tbsp All purpose flour or cornstarch
2 Large eggs
3 Tbsp Lemon juice or 2 tsp Lemon zest
1/2 cup Sour cream
Variation: I omitted the sour cream when I added 1 cup of Libby's Pumpkin filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whip cream cheese with sugar until blended. Add the rest of the ingredients. Pour on the prepared crust and bake in a hot water bath for about 50 to 1 hour or until set. Let it cool and refrigerate.