The best cheesecake I ever had was at the Nugget buffet in Sparks, Nevada. It's probably been 20 years since I last had it--we're not really big on going out to eat, and especially not at the casino buffets. We only went to the company parties there--free food and all that. Anyway, I absolutely love cheesecake. And I think it's a crime that it has so many calories, so I can't have it very often. But being able to have it once or twice during challenging times might be nice.
You know, I have no doubt that we are experiencing the beginning of the Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times." But I also believe that it won't last forever. And sometime during these interesting times, or after life gets boring again, someone will have a cow and I'll be able to get some cream cheese and cream and make a little cheesecake. Or maybe I'll have a little freeze-dried cream cheese and be able to make these little jars of joy. And after living through that bit of fun (not), I won't care about the calories. At all.
These little individual cheesecakes are made in canning jars. Now, canning jars are definitely not recommended for baking. That's because, as previously mentioned here on the blog, canning jars are made of annealed glass, not tempered glass. Tempered glass is required for baking. Annealed glass is produced differently and is not designed to withstand the rapid changes in temperature. There is the risk of the glass shattering and sending shards flying.
But you know what? These little cheesecakes are baked in a water bath. Just like in canning. No rapid temperature changes. No risk of shattering. Happy happy joy joy. Because you know what else? I'm not entirely confident that the springform pans necessary for making cheesecake are going to be all that easy to find after we've lived through interesting times. But canning jars? Nope, they're going to be treated like the golden treasures they are.
So here we go:
Mini-Cheesecakes
3 tablespoons sugar
1 package cream cheese, 8 oz, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
2 tablespoons heavy cream or Media Crema
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
fresh berries for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the water bath.
Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the sugar. Beat in the egg and scrape down the bowl well. Beat in the cream and vanilla until smooth. Pour the batter into wide-mouth canning jars, about three-quarters full.
Place the canning jars in a baking pan. Pour the boiling water into the baking pan until it reaches one-half to two-thirds of the way up the side of the jar. Bake for 25-30 minutes, just until the edges are set, but the center still jiggles a bit. Gently remove the cheesecake jars from the pan and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely. When they are completely cooled, put them in the refrigerator to chill for at least five hours. Garnish with berries and serve.
Family reviews: Everyone said it was good, not great or fabulous. But those of us who like cheesecake really like a good cheesecake. For being sourced from food storage items, it's very good. For what it's worth, I didn't have heavy cream on hand, so I used table cream. That probably made some difference. But it worked. Also, we didn't have fresh berries to put on--we ate some plain and drizzled strawberry jam on some. I'm afraid I will be making this again. I wish cheesecake didn't have so many calories.
Links to related posts:
Baking in Canning Jars
Cream Cheese Options
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