Ingredients
- For the cheesecakes:
- 2 8 ounce packages cream cheese
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 eggs, separated
- 1 1/2 to 2 About 1 1/2 to 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- For the topping:
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- For the Sweet Cherry Sauce:
- 2-3 tablespoons sugar, to taste
- 12 ounces frozen sweet cherries, thawed
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 teaspoons corn starch dissolved in one tablespoon water
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Butter sides and bottoms of 4 mini muffin pans (12 muffins per pan). Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs. Shake to coat. (I do this part over the trash can in case some crumbs get away in the process.) Press remaining loose crumbs into bottom of the wells. Set aside.
Using a stand or hand mixer, mix the cream cheese, sugar and egg yolks.
Beat the egg whites until very stiff, then fold into cream cheese mixture. Do not stir or over fold; this might cause the egg whites to deflate. Fold gently in until just combined.
Fill each muffin well almost to the top and bake 15 minutes.
To make the sweet cherry sauce, place all the sauce ingredients except the dissolved cornstarch into a small saucepan and heat over medium heat for about five minutes. Just before it’s about to simmer, add in the dissolved cornstarch and stir till thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and reserve.
Allow cheesecakes to cool slightly in the muffin pans, then remove to a cookie sheet and cool more, about ten minutes. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees.
Whisk together all the topping ingredients. Drop about one teaspoon, maybe slightly more, into the fallen centers. Bake for 5 minutes more. Cool completely and serve with the cherry sauce.
Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an air-tight container or freeze in a freezer-safe container, layers of cheesecakes separated by wax or parchment paper.
Notes:
If you don’t have cognac but still want to add a liqueur into the cherry sauce, brandy or even whiskey might be good substitutes. Use it sparingly to see if you like the effect. Do the same with the sugar to get it the right sweetness for you.
I actually prefer these after they’ve been in the fridge for a little while.
The recipe is supposed to make about 48 to 60 cheesecakes, so you might have to re-butter one of your pans and prep again for the remainder batter.