Lemon Ginger Mini Cheesecakes

There is a funny story about how I ended up making these mini cheesecakes for our Easter dessert. In fact I had planned to make something else entirely.  Unforch I failed to pick up one of the ingredients at Central Market during my trip on Saturday, and I didn’t realize it until Sunday.

I’ll spare you the long details, but I I looked around in my fridge and realized I had everything I needed to make lemon ginger cheesecake except for cream cheese.  I’ve made this recipe several times before, and it’s always a hit so I thought it would be a well received substitution.  Steve and I headed over to my parents and planned to just pick up some cream cheese on our way.  EVERYWHERE was closed on Easter Sunday! I was only able to get my hands on 8oz of cream cheese in all of San Antonio… despite visiting several convenience stores/gas stations/closed HEB’s.  

I ended up dividing my planned recipe by 4 and made mini cheesecakes using Mom’s 4 inch ramekins instead of breaking in my new spring form pan.  Le sigh.  I’ll have to give that spring form pan some attention soon by making a grown up sized cheesecake.

I’ll provide you with the full recipe instead of a the quartered recipe.  You can decide to either make mini cheesecakes (it should yield 12 servings), or use a spring form pan and make one big cheesecake.  The recipe will be the same for both, but I’ll provide two different baking times. 

Recipe adapted from June 2003 issue of Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

Crust

2 1/2 cups finely ground gingersnap cookies (I like the ones that come in the pretty red tin from World Market, they are nice and crisp)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling

4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger (this can be expensive, if you prefer you can substitute an additional 2 tablespoons of grated fresh ginger)
2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 teaspoons grated zest

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Generously butter 10-inch-diameter spring form pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Double-wrap outside of pan with heavy-duty foil (this is unnecessary if you are using ramekins).  Blend ground cookies, sugar, and ginger in processor. Add melted butter and process until moist crumbs form.

Press mixture onto bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of prepared pan. Bake until crust sets, about 10 minutes. Cool. Maintain oven temperature.

Or… if you are like me.  Just spoon several teaspoons of the crust mixture into each ramekin and press to form a nicely packed crust.  I was having trouble using just my fingers, if you spray the back of a spoon with cooking spray it will be very useful.  I baked the crusts for 7 minutes since they were smaller.

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in sugar, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in sour cream and whipping cream, then crystallized ginger, fresh ginger, lemon juice, and lemon peel.

Pour the filling into crust.  I used a 1/3 cup measure to dole out the good stuff.  I evenly divided my filling amongst my four ramekins.  If you are making one big cheesecake there is no need for this precision… just dump it all in there at once.

I had a little crust mixture left over, and I hated to waste that yummy goodness.  I added a smidge more sugar and then sprinkled over the top of the filling.  You could skip this if you prefer a clean surface.  You could chose to decorate the top with lemon slices after baking, or by dusting with confectioners sugar.  It’s up to you!

If you are making one big cheesecake….Place spring form pan in large roasting pan. Pour enough boiling water into roasting pan to come 1 inch up sides of spring form pan. You’ll want to make sure the foil is really tightly sealed around your spring form pan or the crust will get soggy.

Bake cheesecake until filling is set and golden brown on top (cake will rise slightly above edge of pan), 1 hour 25 minutes. Turn off oven and prop open oven door. Let cake stand in oven 1 hour (cooling very gradually helps prevent it from falling).

Remove spring form pan from water bath. Remove foil and cool cheesecake completely on rack. Cover and refrigerate overnight. (Can be prepared ahead and refrigerated for a few days.  Or you could freeze it right away and keep it for several months.  But why would you bake a cheesecake you didn’t intend to eat?  If you do freeze it – you wacko- defrost by placing in the fridge the night before you plan to serve).

Release pan sides from cheesecake. Transfer cheesecake to platter. Serve.

If you are making mini cheesecakes, a water bath really isn’t needed.  the surface isn’t so large that it would crack (which is what you are trying to prevent with the water bath).  I arranged the ramekins on a baking sheet just to make it easy to get them in and out of the oven.  Bake for 30 minutes and then turn off the oven and keep the door shut for another 5-10 minutes.  Then prop the door open and allow to cool for 30 minutes more.  You can then chill and serve at your convenience.  

Ta da!

Tagged as: baking, holidays