Craving: Cheescake

I get cravings for sweets every now and then. Actually I don't think the day is complete without dessert. Any dessert will do... cakes, pies, cookies, ice cream...whatever. This is what started my love of baking. One day I needed to have some dessert and I've been trying my hand at DIY dessert ever since. But I digress...

Cheesecake is a one of a kind experience. Some people like it dense, some people like it creamy. Some people like toppings others like it plain. Personally, I like creamy, moist (as if cheesecake could be dry?), not too much crust with just the right right amount of fruit topping and lots of whipped cream cheesecake (whew!).

I had a craving for cheesecake. We know what happens when I have a craving. So I made a cheesecake. Actually I made 12 cheesecakes... hear me out.

I love to bake but I'm not that stellar at it. I mean I've never anything inedible but that doesn't mean everything I make it going to be fantastic. So when I try a new recipe I make a little bit. Just in case it's nasty there won't be a lot of it going to waste. Enter 12 cheesecakes. Okay, okay they weren't 12 WHOLE cheesecakes (a mere technicality) but rather mini cheesecakes. I got the recipe from a cupcake book my mom gave me.

I started out pretty good but nervous because this was my first time baking a cheesecake.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lb. cream cheese room temp
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 sour cream
2 large eggs room temp
3 tbsp all-purpose flour




I don't want to post the directions because I'm sure it would be copyright infringement, but I followed them to a 'T'. I was careful to do so because I needed to get the recipe right before I could make my own variations. But somehow...

They caved. That's right it sank in the middle. After consulting Betty Google Crocker I learned that sometimes {whole} cheesecakes can crack and split. Which I guess is what kind of happened. But still there was a big void in the middle of my mini cheesecakes. Take a closer look:

Yea. Big hole. In the grand scheme of things it's not really that big of a deal because I could cover it up with decoration. I have some suspicions though. One of which may be the actual ingredients. I used frozen cream cheese. That has to do with my couponing obsession.

See... pretty. Clearly I'll have to work on cheesecake baking. But more importantly how did it taste?

Heavenly, divine, delightfully delish... okay I'm out of adjectives but you get my point. It was really good. At first I was a little skeptical because I prefer my cheesecake creamy. Don't get me wrong, it was by no means dry, but the not so creaminess didn't really hold a lot of weight because it was THAT good. The only other person to taste test this was my husband. He said it was good too. I believe him even though he says anything I bake is good. I made cheesecake poppers with the left over batter from the 12 mini cakes... he's already eaten all but 5. I am going to get in a little more practice then I plan to take this to a whole new level. There are a few events coming up in which I want to unveil my new found dessert. I already have a TON of ideas brewing in my head but you may just have to wait and see for that.