Black Forest Mini Cheesecakes

Black Forest Mini Cheesecakes

Ready in 45 minutes, for 12 servings

INGREDIENTS:

- butter

- oreo cookies

EQUIPMENT:

- muffin tray

- bowl

- oven

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix together crushed Oreos and melted butter. Line a standard sized muffin tin with paper liners.

INGREDIENTS:

- cookies

- crust

2) Add a heaping tablespoon of the cookie crumb mixture to each liner, press with the back of a spoon to form the crust.

EQUIPMENT:

- oven

3) Bake for 5 minutes.

EQUIPMENT:

- oven

4) Remove from the oven, set aside to cool while preparing the filling.

INGREDIENTS:

- cocoa powder

- cream cheese

- heavy cream

- sour cream

- chocolate

- sugar

- salt

EQUIPMENT:

- hand mixer

- mixing bowl

5) In a small bowl stir together sugar, cocoa powder and salt. In a large mixing bowl add soften cream cheese and sugar/cocoa mix. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth, add melted chocolate, heavy cream and sour cream, beat until combined.

INGREDIENTS:

- vanilla

- egg

EQUIPMENT:

- bowl

6) Add eggs, one at a time and mix well after each, then add in vanilla. Tap the bowl on the counter firmly a couple of times to release any air bubbles.

INGREDIENTS:

- cupcakes

EQUIPMENT:

- muffin liners

- frying pan

7) Divide batter between the cupcake liners (liners will be full). Tap the pan a couple of times to be sure there are no large air bubble.

EQUIPMENT:

- oven

8) Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the centers jiggle just slightly. (Original recipe called for baking time of 17-20 minutes, mine were done at the 15 minute mark.)

INGREDIENTS:

- wrap

EQUIPMENT:

- plastic wrap

- oven

- frying pan

9) Remove pan from oven, let cool at room temp. for 1 hour. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or until fully cooled before topping.

INGREDIENTS:

- powdered sugar

- heavy cream

- vanilla

EQUIPMENT:

- whisk

- bowl

10) Top the cheesecakes: In a medium bowl whisk together heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla.

EQUIPMENT:

- blender

- bowl

11) Place the bowl in the refrigerator, along with the beaters from your mixer, for 10-15 minutes to get everything well chilled.

INGREDIENTS:

- gelatin

- cream

- water

- pop

EQUIPMENT:

- microwave

- blender

- bowl

12) Add gelatin to a small bowl, add water. When gelatin absorbs all the water microwave for about 10 seconds to heat and melt the gelatin and make it pourable. Set aside to cool a bit. Beat the cream until just before it reaches soft peak stage, check your gelatin to be sure it has cooled slightly but is still a pourable consistency (if it solidified, just pop it back in the microwave for a couple seconds). With the mixer running, slowly pour in the gelatin and finish whipping the cream to soft peak stage.

INGREDIENTS:

- whipped cream

- cherries

13) Top the cakes with a generous spoon full of the whipped cream, using the back of a spoon make a little nest indentation in the top for the cherry filling.

INGREDIENTS:

- cherries

14) Add a spoon full of the cherry filling and you're done.