Strawberry and Lime Mini Cheesecakes Recipe

Strawberry and Lime Mini Cheesecakes
a Cinco De Mayo inspired recipe

Ingredients:

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened
1 pkg. mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup caster/white sugar
1 tsp. grated lemon zest (2 limes)
juice of 2 limes
1 cup sliced and hulled strawberries
1-2 tablespoons of caster/white sugar

for the base:
12 biscuits (makes roughly 1½ cups crumbs)
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon caster/white sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

6 glass ramekin dishes.

Crush the biscuits and add the melted butter and cinnamon (optional). Mix well and press firmly into the ramekin dishes (alternatively for a larger cheesecake us an 8-inch pie pan). Pat down using the back of a tablespoon. Place in fridge for 30mins to set.

While base is setting. Mix together cream cheese, mascarpone, lime zest, lime juice (I normally put the lime juice in to taste roughly about 2 limes worth but if you would prefer a zestier cheesecake add 1 more) sugar, using a wooden spoon or electric mixer. Pour the cheese mixture over the base and spread evenly. Put cheesecakes in the fridge for at least 1 hour to set, (if making a large cheesecake it will need at least 4 hours to set, preferably overnight).

While the cheesecakes are setting, slice the strawberries and sprinkle with a generous amount of sugar (1 to 2 tablespoons). Just before serving spoon the sliced strawberries and juice over the mini cheesecakes.

cook's notes: I have made these cheesecakes many times and they are always dissapear quickly... I will be making them again next week for Cinco De Mayo to go along with burritos, nachos, and possibly some cinnamon tortilla crisps too.

Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Cinnamon Roll mmmmmm.

Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

Rolls:
1 1/4 oz. package. Yeast
1 cup. warm milk
1/2 cup. Caster (granulated/white) sugar
1/3 cup. melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 cups. all-purpose flour

Filling:
1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbs. cinnamon (use the best cinnamon you can find)

Icing: (optional)
7 tbs. butter, softened
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup (2 oz.) cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 t. salt (if desired I left it out)

Directions:

Rolls:

Dissolve yeast in the warm milk.

Mix in sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour. Mix well.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface it will be a very sticky dough so you may need a lot of flour to knead it. Knead into a large ball. Place in a clean bowl and cover with a tea towel and put somewhere warm (I put the covered bowl near the fire as it was the only place not freezing); let rise 1-2 hours.

Preheat oven to 360 F (180 c).

Roll dough into a 21 x 16 wide rectangle. With the butter softened, spread it generously over the dough (I used my fingers but you can use a spatula).

Sprinkle the filling over the buttered rectangle.

Roll the dough up carefully from the long edge. (I rolled from the long side but you can roll from the short side to make a smaller amount of fatter rolls)

round and round we go

Using a very sharp knife cut into 1 inch wide rolls, making sixteen large rolls (or carefully cut the roll in half and measure out the dough to get 24 smaller pieces that can be tucked into muffin tins/muffin papers). Alternatively if you want big fat rolls, cut them wider.

Grease (butter) your baking pan (11x 15 pan or muffin tins or use muffin cases) Then place rolls in pan and into oven. Bake until the rolls are browned around 15 to 20 minutes (depending on your oven).

Take them out and cover them in icing.

Filling:
While dough is rising, prepare the filling and the icing.
Soften butter.
After dough has been rolled out into a rectangle, spread the softened butter all over.
Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle over entire buttered rectangle.



Icing:

Cream together butter, icing sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla with an electric mixer. Spread onto the hot rolls.

nom nom nom

cook's notes: I have been suffering withdrawal pains lately for all things sugary sweet, cinnamon drenched and American and in that vein I have been mulling over this recipe I have for making Cinnamon Buns (an much altered version of a Cinnabon clone recipe I found long long ago) which as anyone knows are the embodiment of all things sickly sweet, fatty, and overloaded with cinnamon and cream cheese icing. They have helped me get through some very tough times in the past. There are dozens upon dozens of cinnamon roll recipes on the interwebs, this is the one I use and have for years, though I do alter it from time to time, little tweaks here and there until one day the recipe will be as perfect as I can possibly make it. Until then its a pretty damn fine recipe.

It's also really important to use the best cinnamon you can find, I used cinnamon that I bought at Chatsworth Farm Shop and it is amazing how different cinnamon can taste from the regular (cheap) storebrand.