All posts tagged mini

Black Bottom Mini Brownie Cups

The only thing better than plain brownies is brownies with a cheesecake and chocolate chip swirl.  Then, you go and bake them up in a mini muffin tin to get the cutest little mouth poppable cheesecake brownie bites. Pretty perfect right?  As usual, this is a super easy recipe.  You make the cheesecake batter in the food processor and the brownie batter is mixed by hand.  Just be certain to spray the muffin wells liberally for easy removal.  I found that a spoon was the easiest way pop them out of the pan.  These do sink in a bit in the middle, creating a perfect cup for ice cream or a rich chocolate sauce.   The author, Nancy Baggett, says she bakes them in a mini muffin pan because they are so rich.  I don’t know, I didn’t have any problem eating 4 in one sitting.   Embarrased smileEmbarrased smile

Black Bottom Mini Brownie Cups

Yield:  24 mini brownie cups

Cream Cheese Layer:

3 ounces cream cheese, slightly softened and cubed

2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

1 large egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup (3oz) mini semisweet chocolate chips

Brownie layer:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed (1/2 stick)

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate. coarsely chopped

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour — LESS 1 Tablespoon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 2-12 cup mini muffin pans with cooking spray.  I suggest a spray with flour and spray well!!!

The cream cheese layer:  In food processor, beat cream cheese, sugar, butter, egg yolk and vanilla until smooth. By hand, stir in the mini chocolate chips; set aside.  (Or, in a large bowl, with an electric mixer on low speed, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Add the butter, egg yolk, and vanilla, and continue beating until smooth.  Stir in the chocolate chips)

The brownie layer:  In a medium microwave safe bowl, melt butter and chocolate on 50% power x 1 minute.  Stir well.  Continue microwaving on 50% power, stirring at 30 second intervals.  Stop microwaving before the chocolate completely melts and let the residual heat finish the job.

Stir the sugar into the chocolate mixture until well blended; cool until warm. In a small bowl, thoroughly stir flour, salt and baking soda; set aside. Beat the egg, 1 Tbsp of water and vanilla into chocolate mixture until well blended. Stir in flour mixture until evenly incorporated..

Spoon 1/2 tablespoon of chocolate mixture into each prepared muffin cup.  Spoon 1 teaspoon of cream cheese mixture over the tops, dividing it equally among the cups.  Spoon the remaining chocolate mixture equally over the cream cheese mixture.  Take caution not to overfill.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 11 – 14 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs on it. Place muffin pans on a wire rack to cool.

Gently loosen brownie cups with point of a knife; remove from the pan. I found a spoon to be easier.  Store in airtight container for up to 4 days; or freeze up to 1 month.

Source:  The All-American Cookie Book

14 Comments
by Just Baked on March 23, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Brownies
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Posted by Just Baked on March 23, 2012

http://justbakedbyme.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/black-bottom-mini-brownie-cups/

Sherry Yard’s No-Bake Cheesecake

I am so sad.  My Kitchen-Aid broke Tuesday and it is in the shop until Monday, at least.  :( So, what is a baker to do? Well, I have been trying to find desserts that I can mix by hand, use a food processor or even my old school hand mixer.  I got Desserts by the Yard for Christmas and I came across a recipe for no bake mini cheesecakes.  Perfect!  The book is written by Sherry Yard, Wolfgang Puck’s pastry chef.  I was surprised that the woman behind all the fancy pastries for the Oscars also had a recipe for such a simple, but delicious dessert.  The crust is made up of Nilla wafer crumbs, no butter, just crumbs.  A lemony cheesecake filling is then piped over the crust.  You then refrigerate them for a few hours and you have cheesecake without all the hassle of  a leaking spring form pan, baking in a water bath and trying to hide the cracks.  I love that you can change the dessert up in a variety of ways- add fresh fruit or pie filling to the top, fold chocolate chips into the filling, use an Oreo crumb crust and topping…the possibilities are endless.   So if you need a quick and delicious dessert for some easy-peasy entertaining, look no further than these no bake mini cheesecakes. :D  After all, everything is better in mini!

Mini No-Bake Cheesecakes

Yield: 24 Mini Cheesecakes

12 vanilla wafer cookies

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

12 ripe strawberries, hulled and halved OR quartered (depending on the size)

Pulse cookies in a food processor until you have crumbs. Line the cups of 2 mini muffin pans with paper liners and spoon a layer of cookie crumbs into the bottom of each.

In bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar at medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. On low speed, beat in sour cream and lemon juice until well combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl.

Spoon or pipe filling into cups, dividing evenly. Refrigerate 2 to 4 hours, until set, or overnight.

Sources:  Desserts By The Yard:  From Brooklyn to Beverly Hills:  Recipes From the Sweetest Life Ever

Helpful Hints:

  • I found that chilling overnight allowed the crust to set better.
  • If you don’t have a pipping bag, just cut off the corner of a Ziploc bag and pipe it that way or you can just use a spoon.
  • Sherry Yard says she also pipes this filling into raspberries…now that sounds delicious. Or how about hulled strawberries?

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by Just Baked on January 16, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Cheesecake
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Posted by Just Baked on January 16, 2012

http://justbakedbyme.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/sherry-yards-no-bake-cheesecake/

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