This has been an amazing week. I’ve been teaching all week at my new school for a vocal arts camp, and I can already tell this huge terrifying life change is going to be good. It makes me feel as though an enormous weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, and I can’t wait to dive in in the fall. I also made these ridiculously easy Black Forest Mini Cheesecakes, and they are definitely worth the calories. Made with fresh cherries, grenadine, sweet cheesecake batter, oreos, and topped with a chocolate covered cherry and a stabilized whipped cream, they are the perfect way to use up your summer supply of cherries!
Anyone else have difficulty relaxing when they get to a break?
(Not interested in my life, and just want to know what’s in these darn cheesecakes? Skip to the next heading.)
Jump to RecipeEvery time I get to a school break, I have a lot of difficulty “getting off the carousel.” I have trouble letting go of the worries of teaching, and find myself struggling to know what to do with myself during downtime.
This has been particularly difficult this year; I am starting a brand new job in the fall, and I have a lot of anxiety about preparing properly and also setting up my former school for success. Thinking about it, I’m sure I drive Matt crazy…I can’t just sit in the house and relax, because I constantly feel the need to be DOING SOMETHING.
Teachers, do you experience this too? Does it take you a while to relax? Am I just weird?
However, I’m hoping after this week I might do a little better at relaxing…we’ll see. I’ll keep you posted.
Black Forest Mini Cheesecakes: the elements.
I’m not going to lie, the idea for these cheesecakes came from analyzing my blog traffic. By far my most popular post is my Margarita Mini Cheesecakes, so it seemed like maybe the world was hungry for cream cheese and sugar. I know I am.
I also had an enormous bag of black cherries sitting on my counter, so black forest seemed like the way to go. Come on, doesn’t that combo sound delicious? Cheesecake. Cherries. Chocolate. Oh yes.
These chocolate cherry mini cheesecakes are so easy. I used two bowls, a spoon, my mixer, and a cupcake tin. That’s it. It also only took me about ten minutes of actual mixing or cooking to bake these little guys. So much easier than a full-sized cheesecake, and with all of the creamy flavor.
For the crust, I used a simple combo of crushed up oreos and melted butter. This serves two purposes: I get to eat the leftover oreos, and I get to express all my rage by smashing up the cookies with my rolling pin. It’s a win, win. After baking that combo for a few minutes to create firm crusts, I topped them with a creamy mixture of eggs, cream cheese, cream, fresh cherries, sugar, grenadine (for color and cherry flavor), vanilla, and a pinch of salt. I baked them off and chilled them.
I chose to bake these little Black Forest mini cheesecakes in cupcake liners because I like the way the little ridges look on the finished cheesecakes, but if you want a cleaner look, you can definitely use a silicon cupcake tray and then just gently pop them out when they are done baking!
Easy garnishes:
To lighten everything up, I topped these with a nice homemade stabilized whipped cream. That’s just whipped cream mixed with a little gelatin so that it stays nice and firm in the fridge. If you don’t want to get another bowl dirty, don’t be shy about reaching for the cool whip or ready whip. That stuff sells like hot cakes for a reason, and if it makes your life easier, just go for it.
Look. I made a tik tok.
To make the chocolate-covered cherries, I just dipped some fresh cherries in some melting chocolate wafers. My mother is very concerned that people don’t know that there are pits in cherries, so please restore my faith in humanity by NOT biting into one of your chocolate-covered cherries and breaking a tooth. Melting chocolate can be found at most grocery stores, or you can buy it online.
To all my teacher friends, I really hope you all find some time to relax. Covid has taken its toll on all of us, but I think that people that work with PEOPLE have had the most difficult year. Teachers, nurses, counselors, coaches….dealing with the expectations and disappointments of people that trust and rely upon us has been so hard in the midst of the pandemic. Lets all try to take the summer to reset, relax, and rejuvenate.
And make these Black Forest mini cheesecakes. They’re really good.
Easy Black Forest Mini Cheesecakes: Simple snacks brimming with fresh cherries and chocolate!
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy18
servings30
minutes25
minutes300
kcalIngredients
16 oreo cookies
4 tablespoons butter, melted
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 c granulated sugar
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 t cherry extract (optional)
1/3 cup grenadine or cherry juice
1/4 cup flour
1 cup chopped fresh cherries, pitted
- For the whipped cream topping:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 t powdered gelatin
4 t cold water
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Farenheit. Prepare muffin tins with liners and cooking spray. (This recipe should make around 18 cheesecakes.)
- Put your oreos in a big ziplock bag. Grab your rolling pin and go to town smashing them up. Get all your anger out. Smash them until they look like fine crumbs, turning the bag over a few times as you go.
- Combine the oreo crumbs and the melted butter, and then drop a spoonful of this mixture into each cupcake liner. Use the pads of your finger to press the oreo crust into the bottom of the tins, smoothing everything out. Bake for ten minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare your cheesecake mixture. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and cream cheese. Beat until smooth and soft, about four minutes. Add the cream and eggs, beating until well-combined. Add the vanilla, cherry extract, grenadine, and salt, and beat until well-combined. Add the flour, and mix until just combined. Fold in the fresh cherries.
- Drop a dollop of cheesecake mixture into each cup, filling until almost full. Bake for 25 minutes or until the tops are completely set. Chill completely in the refrigerator, at least an hour.
- Combine the powdered gelatin and cold water. Allow it to sit for five minutes. Pop it into the microwave and cook for five minutes, or until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Cool completely.
- Whip the heavy cream until it forms soft peaks. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar, continue to whip until it forms stiff peaks. Add the gelatin mixture, mix until combined. Top each cheesecake with the stabilized whipped cream, piping it on if you desire, or just plopping it on with a spoon. Top with a chocolate covered cherry and enjoy!
