Are you crafty, Valentine? I’m not really. But even I can do this.
Cut a heart-shaped hole in a piece of paper, and sprinkle confectioner’s sugar through the heart. Sugar. Right through the heart. If that doesn’t say “Valentine’s Day,” I don’t know what does.
‘Course, it doesn’t hurt that it’s on top of an individual chocolate cheesecake.
This is going to be dinner for my husband. Don’t judge. Mama’s got a book to write.
The crust is ground K-Toos Chocolate Sandwich Creme cookies
The K-Too pictures were taken with my iPhone ’cause my real camera’s battery was being charged. Someone please remind me why I have a DSLR camera?
Next, just press the crust down into Weck 900s. Could they be any more useful? I think Weck is my Valentine. Sorry, Brian.
Pour in the easy chocolate cheesecake filling. Spring for the good chocolate
Et voilà.
| Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes |
- 1 8-ounce package K-Toos gluten-free chocolate sandwich creme cookies
- 4 tablespoons (56g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
- 3, 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Confectioner’s sugar for dusting (optional)
- Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Set aside 6 to 8 wide-mouth mason jars that are 8 to 10 ounces in capacity.
- Place all of the chocolate sandwich cookies in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse until most of the cookies are finely ground. Open the food processor and break up any remaining large cookie pieces, close and pulse again until all of the cookies are finely ground. Place the butter in the food processor, and pulse until the mixture starts to come together. Divide the cookie mixture among the mason jars. Press the mixture firmly into the bottoms of the jars with the bottom of a glass covered in either unbleached parchment paper or plastic wrap. Set the jars aside.
- Place all but a few pieces of the chopped chocolate in a small, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave the chocolate for 45 seconds at 70% power and stir the chocolate. Return the chocolate to the microwave again for another 45 seconds at 70% power, and stir. If there are still large pieces of unmelted chocolate, microwave for another 45 seconds at 70% power. Add the reserved pieces of chocolate to the bowl, and stir until all of the chocolate is melted. This will help bring the chocolate up to a cooler temperature (tempering the chocolate). Set the chocolate aside.
- Place the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat until light and fluffy. Add the condensed milk, eggs and vanilla extract, and beat until well-combined. Add the melted chocolate, and beat again to combine. The mixture will be pourable. Pour the cheesecake mixture into the mason jars on top of the cookie crust, stopping about an inch from the top of each jar.
- Place the mason jars in a large roasting pan, pull the center rack part way out of the oven, and place the pan on it. Pour warm tap water into the roasting pan until it reaches at least an inch up the sides of the jars. Carefully push the rack back into the oven, and close the oven door.
- Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the cheesecakes are set around the edges but still a bit loose in the center. Turn off the oven, and, with the pan with the cheesecakes still in the oven, leave the door slightly ajar. Allow to sit in the oven for another 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, and the jars from the pan and allow to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until set, about an hour.
- Before serving, sprinkle with the optional confectioner’s sugar.
To make the shape of a heart on the top of each cheesecake, sprinkle confectioner’s sugar over a stencil on top of each jar. If you don’t have a stencil (I didn’t), simply cut a heart out of a piece of paper, and position the heart cutout on top of the cheesecake and sprinkle the sugar through the cutout.
It seems that I feed my husband sugar for dinner.
Your turn, now. What do you do for Valentine’s Day?
Love,
Me
P.S. If you just can’t lay off the red velvet, don’t let me stand in your way. Here are the Red Velvet Cupcakes. And yesterday’s Red Velvet Whoopie Pies.
P.P.S. There’s also DF White Chocolate Fudge for your main squeeze, packaged up pretty.
P.P.P.S. Is Valentine’s Day over yet? Being so Valentiney doesn’t really come natural to me.
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K-Toos make the ‘best’ crusts! yum!
Completely unrelated, but I made cakepops last night (the full-of-gluten cake mix kind) in one of those nifty pans so my daughter had something different to take to school. Not impressed! Those things take way too much work! I looked back at your recipe and pictures, and they were so pretty. Ours were all lumpy and weird. So, what kind of chocolate did you use? My white chocolate was thinner, and seemed to work better than my dark, which was just thick and gooey!
Hi, Jennica,
.
Yeah, most of those niche pans either don’t work or make complicated what really should/could be quite simple. If the trouble you had was with the chocolate coating, then success is about a few things: 1. Using good chocolate. Poor quality chocolate, like chips, which have wax in them to help them keep their shape, or just chocolate with a very low percentage of cacao butter, won’t melt or coat well. 2. Tempering the chocolate properly (in today’s cheesecake recipe, I describe how to properly temper chocolate by “seeding” the melted chocolate with some unmelted pieces – read through that, it should help), and 3. Working relatively quickly when the chocolate is at the right temperature. When it really matters how well things turn out, I always use Scharffen Berger Baking Chocolate
xoxo Nicole
Thanks, Nicole! I think the problem we had was using chips. Had no idea they melt and act differently. Good to know.
Yum! Happy Valentine’s Day Nicole. It’s okay to feed family sugar for dinner. I’m making breakfast for dinner, (mom’s request), and that’s alright too.
Hi, JoAnn,
Happy Valentine’s Day to you, too! Breakfast for dinner is not only alright, it should be a regular occurrence! You’re so good to your mom. :)
xoxo Nicole
Happy Valentine’s my friend! Brian is one lucky man if you ask me. You are in book crunch time and you still have time to post this! I am impressed. We are having our traditional Valentine’s night. Baked Brie and roasted garlic on baguettes (gee eff of course) and watching a movie with the kids. Started this right before Mitch was born! It’s tradition.
Hi, friend,
We have no Valentine’s Day traditions to speak of. Unless my kids suddenly demand one. Which happens sometimes. Brie and roasted garlic on baguettes sounds perfect. Throw in a glass of wine, and the kids are putting themselves to bed while I chill!
xoxo Nikki
We are not Valentine’s people. I say “Happy Valentine’s Day” and Russ replies “You Too”. He then says “We good?”. lol That’s it. Except that my daughter is Miss Tradition and wants things to be exactly the same every year. Except they never are and I am trying to teach not to expect because then there is disappointment. I digress.
Wine will definitely in order.
Brian, Russ is replaced by a glass sometimes. It’s ok, it’s not sharpie so it’s not permanent.
I can’t believe I’ve been replaced. By a jar.
Not by a jar, Brian. By a whole bunch of jars. (kidding. really.)
The heart stencil is very crafty of you – kudos. I do like cheesecake and chocolate cheesecake is even better. I might be making this real soon, but I’m skipping the stencil effort. I can’t even cut out proper paper dolls.
Lisa @ GF Canteen would like it if you read Cranberry Cheese Cookies for the Pups, Gluten Free
She’s not kidding, Brian. We’re all replaceable.
For me, that heart stencil is about a crafty as I get. I wish I were craftier. I read crafty-person blogs, and then I feel bad about how uncrafty I am.
xoxo Nicole
Happy Valentines Day Nicole AND Brian!!! Girl, what do you mean your not crafty!!! Look at what you create EVERY single day on this blog! If that is not a craft then I don’t know what is. These look wonderful. I will definitely need to try these. As always, thank you for all your hard work!!
Thanks, Elizabeth! I secretly wish I could MacGyver a lamp and retile my bathroom and then make a scrapbook about it or something, though. Actually, now that I think of it, I’ll just stick to baking. :)
xoxo Nicole
I made a cheescake this week for my hubby. But yours look like much more fun! We celebrate our anniversary (3 yrs) today! We do not celebrate Valentine’s Day in this house. ;)
Emily @ Our Frugal Happy Life would like it if you read Dollar General Wow Savings: Eucerin and Nivea deals!
Hi, Emily,
Happy Anniversary! That’s a fantastic “out” for Valentine’s Day. Wish I’d thought of that, like, nearly 15 years ago. ;) Hope your day was a good one.
xoxo Nicole
So adorable!
You commented after me re the spacing issue on Dianne’s site. Thanks!
Hi, Averie,
I did! I always see you “at Dianne’s.” I think of Dianne’s blog as kind of the like the ‘beauty parlor’ where food bloggers go to speak the truth! Thanks for stopping by. :)
xoxo Nicole
Cheese is my number one favorite dessert. Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather :)
Heather :) :) :) would like it if you read "IT MAKES CENTS TO ME FRIDAY" FOR FEBRUARY 10th
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