The social network that celebrates Latin food

Mini Cheesecakes in Less Time Than It Takes to Preheat Your Oven

These little faux cheesecakes involve absolutely no baking or freezing. Just a few ingredients will have your munchers blown away with how quickly cheesecake got on the table; just in time for them to stuff down their throats. It’s best to do a lot of these little wonders, as they will go down fast. Hungry Girl Lisa Lillien uses mini Laughing Cow cheese wedges in some of her recipes to add taste with little calories. I really hope she and you enjoy this almost scandalously quick tiny dessert. The measurements used yield about 4-6 mini cheesecakes.

Laughing Cow cheese wedges (creamy light Swiss)
simple syrup
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup crushed graham cracker crumbs
5 Tablespoons strawberry jam or jelly (heated in the microwave for 30 seconds; wait a bit until cool)

Step 1. Prepare a cheesecake-making area similar to the one in the picture. Simple syrup in one small bowl, granulated sugar in another and crushed graham crackers in the other. Strawberry jam also on the side cooling until the end. Also you should unwrap your cheese wedges at this point.

Step 2. Roll cheese wedge around in sugar. This sweet secret takes your cheese to it where it needs to be to taste like a cheesecake.

Step 3. Dip cheese wedge in simple syrup, only dipping bottom and sides of wedge, never the top. This way, the graham crackers will stick to only the bottom and sides of the cheese — creating the cheesecake effect.

Step 4. Only cover bottom and sides of wedge with graham cracker crumbs. Set aside on a plate.

Step 5. Start glazing strawberry jam over wedge, around 1 Tablespoon should work. Be careful, as you don’t want jam to drip down sides. Begin with a little bit of the jam and add as you go so you never put too much. Crumble a little more graham crackers over the top. With these techniques you can do a sampler with the variations offered below. Cheesecake just got way faster and a bit more healthier. Recommended to eat right away, cheese might start letting some water out if put in the refrigerator for too long.

For simple syrup: in a small pot combine 1 cup sugar with 3/4 cup water and bring to a boil. Allow to cool for proper consistency.

For more cheesecake variations including creamy key lime white chocolate, go to Munch This!