This is the first Paula Deen recipe I’ve tried, and it’s a winner. Simple, fast, easy, not a lot of ingredients. Plus it’s not as rich or dense as your usual cheesecake. The crust is pretty clever–a Nilla wafer at the bottom of a cupcake liner.
Paula covered her tarts in blueberry pie filling, but I had a jar of cherries from Trader Joe’s handy. For the cherry topping, stir together cherry juice from the jar, balsamic vinegar and dark brown sugar in a saucepan in a 1:1:1 ratio. Reduce it over medium-high heat until it thickens, then add the drained cherries back into the thickened sauce and coat them. Wait until the cheesecakes and topping have both cooled before spooning the topping on.
Get Paula’s recipe here.
Update, September 13, 2012: I revisited this recipe recently, adding 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice and the zest of 1 lemon. That made it even better.
Paula: Your Mini Cream Cheese Cake Receipe is a hit with my friends. I have filled the well with your lemon curd, they thought they were mini lemon merange pies, also with either raspberry puree and chocolate gnache, or with strawberry and chocolate gnache. They go nuts over them. There is all king of topping you can put in the well, when cooled. Also your pecan pie bars were a hit at this function me and my wife went to. Michele and Joe Blecha