Little Cheesecakes with Strawberry Sauce

Let me start by saying I absolutely love mini and personal sized items. Mini cakes, cupcakes, pies, (any sort of mini food)... ummm clothing and shoes for small children. You get the idea.

So when I saw this recipe for Little Cheesecakes with Strawberry Sauce in a Food Network cookbook, I bought the book (I actually only paid $3.99 at a local bookstore!) and made the cheesecakes for Easter. The recipe calls for very simple and inexpensive ingredients [chocolate graham crackers, semi sweet chocolate chips, unsalted butter, cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and orange zest].

Process graham crackers and chocolate chips in a food processor; add butter; and divide the mixture into muffin cups. Bake the crust for about 8 minutes at 325.

In a clean food processor pulse the cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and orange zest until smooth; divide the filling on top of the already baked crust; bake until the rims are almost set for about 30 minutes; cool cheesecakes on a rack, then refrigerate (uncovered) for about 2 hours.

The strawberry sauce is very basic. All it consists of is frozen strawberries (make sure they're thawed well) and sugar; puree in food processor.

When ready to serve spoon sauce over cheesecake

yum yum yum :)

[Chels]