Day 233 - Kara's Cheesecake Story

Once upon a time, a pastry chick named Kara (how coincidental!) decided to grace a birthday boy with cheesecake. Cheesecake was one of his favorite things, especially Kara's--no one made cheesecake quite like her (good thing they were married). So Kara set out upon a task, to create yumminess without fighting against her waistline. This is how she did it...

A typical view from inside my Kitchenaid bowl.

Kara's Killer Cheesecake (adapted)  

*To make individual servings like I have, you can use creme brulee cups like I have here, or small mason jars--the ones used for canning jams and preserves--to control portions and create a quicker bake and refrigeration time.*

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
•  14 Oreos, finely crushed (or 1.5 cups of graham cracker crumbs)
• 16oz. reduced fat cream cheese (room temp.)
• 2 large eggs (room temp.)
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• vanilla bean seeds scraped from half of a Madagascar bourbon vanilla bean (or just add another squirt of vanilla extract if you can't find this in the spice section at your grocery store)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F degrees. Place individual serving cups staggered on a cookie sheet.

2. Melt butter till completely liquid and combine with the Oreo crumbs. Divide the crumb mixture evenly between all cups and gently pat down the mix inside the cups (don't pack it down or it become too hard to break into with a spoon).

3. Bake these for 6 minutes. Remove form oven and let sit at room temperature. Reduce the oven temperature to 325F degrees.

4. Set a pot of water to boil while you begin making the cheesecake mixture--you'll need it for the water bath while they bake.

5. Blend the cream cheese and sugar well in the bowl of a standing mixer on low speed till there are no lumps.

6. Add the eggs one at a time, blending well and scraping the bowl between additions. Scrape the bowl before adding the vanilla, vanilla bean seeds, salt and lemon juice. Blend well again.

7. Divide the cheesecake mixture evenly between the cups, careful not to drip the mix along the sides of the cups. Tap them each lightly on the counter to remove air bubbles.

Staggered and mostly filled.

8. Stagger the cups evenly inside a medium baking pan (the pan should be deep enough to allow for the water to be poured half way up the sides of the cups). Before adding the water to the pan: pull out the oven rack and place the pan with the cups onto it--then carefully pour the water. Be careful not to splash water inside the cups (removing one cup from near the edge and pouring water carefully there will allow enough room to avoid most splashing).

*if you can't do a water bath baking method because you haven't learned how to boil water, or whatever the case might be, turn your oven down to 225F degrees for baking*

9. Bake approximately 20 minutes. The cheesecake should NOT have any brown color to the top, and should still look mostly wet (not dried out) and should still jiggle in the center when the pan is lightly moved about (think Jell-O Jiggler commercials).

10. Refrigerate until set, about 4 hours at this size (8 hours if you make this recipe for a single 6 or 8 inch round).

11. Try to share with others. You do have 10 individual servings after all...

Kara, the pastry chick, felt very strongly about proper cheesecake. There were just some rules that she wished everyone would follow so the world could be a better place when it comes to cheesecake, like: never over-bake it; no browning on top; jiggly is good; and share it.



Yes, I do eat these absolutely yummy things. They do fit within my lifestyle. I don't eat them everyday, but I'm consciously aware of what their impact is on my daily food intake and how my body burns them versus whole foods.

Losing weight doesn't mean losing the foods you love ; )

Happy birthday darling! They're all for you... But please share <3