Belated Valentine's Day post. Candy heart cheesecakes

Hello 2014!!!!!!!

It is nice to start a new year out right. All of the Christmas gifts I made were a success especially the pop tab purse. Unfortunately I had to restore my laptop to factory settings due to a mean hidden virus somewhere in the depths of the hard drive. With that being said all my pictures of it are on my external so at least they are ok but I've managed to misplace it. When I do find it I will post those pictures I promise.

But let us move right along into a new craft. This year for Valentine's Day I wanted to surprise Kyle with a tasty dessert instead of spending money on a gift. We had to celebrate a day early because he had a car show that weekend. We had a lovely day though. Ate artichoke, chicken fettuccine with oil and vinegar salad and for dessert here it is....are you ready.....MINI HEART CHEESECAKES! That's not all they were made to look like conversation hearts!!!

How cute is that?! He loved them by the way and they tasted really good so I was pleased. So here is the recipe for how to make them.

I used a silicone heart mold that I got from Joann's on sale for $6. I sprayed it down with cooking spray just to insure an easier removal when they were done.

• preheat your oven  to 325 degrees
• boils some water to fill a 9x13 pan to create a water bath for the mold

Graham Cracker Crust:

• 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• pinch cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons melted butter

In your food processor grind up the crackers to a fine crumb.
Add your cinnamon and pulse then pour in the butter until it looks like sand.
Place 1 tablespoon of crumb into the bottom of the mold and press
Bake 10-12 minutes
Remove and let cool

While that is baking use the time to make the cheesecake.

Cheesecake:(I repeated this recipe twice but I only had one mold so I made it one at a time)

• 8oz softened cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs room temp.

Mix the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla until smooth.
Add the eggs until completely mixed in.
Now I separated it into different bowls to create the colors
Fill each mold and then place in the water bath and bake 20-25 minutes until there is a smooth film on top but still a little jiggly.
Cool for 1 hr on counter then 3hrs in fridge then 2 hrs in the freezer. This helps them come out easier.
Turn the mold upside down on top of wax paper and gently tug the mold and work the cheesecake out. Flip it over and place on the serving tray. Decorate with red icing and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

 here they are right out of the oven. Unfortunately I got some bubbles in this batch but it worked out. They still tasted fine. My other batch did not get any air bubbles so I'm not quite sure why they happened.

 
 Hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's and all did something special. Keep these in mind for next year or even an anniversary. You can realistically use any shape mold and make them for any occasion.

Til next time Goonies!