When I'm cheesed off.....I bake!

Waiter: "Hope you enjoyed your dinner madam. Would you like to take a look at our dessert menu?"

Silly me: "No thank you. No dessert for me tonight."

Mildly amused husband: "Are you sure?! They have cheesecake. You've never refused cheesecake before!"

Stupid me: "I am pretty full. Planning to have frozen grapes tonight. That should kill the dessert craving.....right?"

Friends 1 and 2 to thoroughly amused husband: "Why don't WE order some. Let's split a slice."

And of course husband goes along. Chivalry is dead I tell you! Not only did the three of them polish off the ginormous slice, they managed to throw pitying glances in my direction between mouthfuls of, what I gathered from their expressions, was one of the best cheesecakes they had eaten in a looong time. I had to sit on my hands for a good 10 minutes just to keep myself from grabbing that plate and making a run for it. Agony!

By the time we got home I was so crabby from the ordeal that alarmed husband, who normally goes into hiding whenever I bake, suggested I bake myself a batch of cupcakes to cheer me up. 

I did one better....I baked Cheesecake cupcakes ;)

Easy to make, easy to eat and automatic portion control....what's not to love?

You will need

For the  filling

• A tub (180 grams) of cream cheese I went with Britannia
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tsp cornflour mixed in with 1 tsp water
• 1 tbsp whipping cream

For the base

• 12 digestive biscuits
• 4 to 5 tbsp melted butter

Makes 10 cupcakes

First the base: Powder the biscuits in a food processor. Add the melted butter and mix thoroughly. The biscuit crumbs should just begin to hold together when pressed into a ball in the palm of your hand.

Grease 10 cupcake liners and fill each with a tablespoon of this base. Press the base down into the liners with the back of a small spoon. Bake in a preheated oven at 150 Celsius for 5 minutes. Cool thoroughly.

Now for the filling: Beat cream cheese and sugar till light and fluffy - about 2 minutes. Add the egg and beat till it is combined. Add the lemon juice and vanilla essence and beat briefly. Add the whipping cream and beat for about a minute more. Lastly, add the corn flour and water mixture and beat for about 5 seconds. Rap the bowl gently on the counter to get rid of air bubbles. Your filling should look like this

Pour batter out into the cupcake moulds almost till the top. Remember....they do not rise at all! 

Place the cupcake tray in a water bath. Bake in a preheated at 150 Celsius for 15 minutes. Do not let the tops brown. The cupcakes are done when the centers are still wobbly. Cool on a wire rack and then chill in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours.

You can top them with a berry compote, whipped cream, sour cream......really the options are endless. I chose to go with raspberry jelly which I cut into small circles.

Note: This recipe is very loosely based on Donna Hay's cheesecake recipe. I used salted cream cheese which did not seem to affect the taste at all. You can also replace the digestive biscuits with any cookie of your choice. Have fun with it :)