Assorted Cheesecakes

Click here to go to printable recipe:  Assorted Cheesecakes  

In my previous post, I shared a recipe for cherry topping, so naturally a recipe for cheesecake was needed.  I was thinking of making a large New York style cheesecake, but then I remembered a small store with wrought iron chairs and a couple of tables by the sidewalk, which I visited during a recent trip to the Washington, DC area: 

“The Furlough Cheesecake” (185 Waterfront Street, National Harbor, MD) has an interesting name and origin.  December 22, 2018, was the starting date of the longest US Federal Government shutdown in history, lasting 35 days, until its resolution on January 25, 2019, due to an impasse between then president Trump and Congress, regarding funding for a Mexico-US border wall.  Sisters Nikki and Jaqi Thompson Wright were amongst the 800,000 Federal employees and contractors furloughed or forced to work without pay, just a couple of days before Christmas.  Even while struggling for her own survival, Nikki baked her sweet potato cheesecakes, donated them to a church on New Year’s Eve, and shared some with her family on New Year’s Day.  Her mom suggested they could sell them, to help them through the crisis.  “The Cheesecake Girls” Nkki and Jaqi, along with Nikki’s daughters and other family members, began baking Original (plain) and Sweet P (sweet potato) cheesecakes, and promoting them on social media, getting the attention of the local news station; days later, CNN featured them as an example of how the shutdown was affecting many lives, and how the sisters had found a way to overcome the situation.  “The Furlough Cheesecake” was also featured on Ellen DeGeneres’ show, getting a grant to support the enterprise.  Since then, the business has grown, selling thousands of cheesecakes, partnering with local farmers and suppliers, and sponsoring charities.

On their menu, they still have their Original and Sweet P flavours, along with several other unique selections.  It is also nice that in addition to regular size (8 inch), they offer their mini cheesecakes (about 4 inch – 10 cm, squares).  My husband and I tried their Chocolate Affair (with a swirl of dark chocolate), and their Keylicious (key lime):

I liked the idea of the small cheesecakes, which allows for making different flavours at once.  I decided to try dark chocolate swirl and lime (no key limes available); surprisingly enough, they do not have cherry on their menu, but I included it with my selection, since the plan to make cheesecakes started with my garden & kitchen cherry topping: 

I did not have Graham crackers for the base, so I experimented with an almond flour and corn starch, gluten-free base.

Assorted Cheesecakes

Printable recipe:  Assorted Cheesecakes

Ingredients (for four small cheesecakes)

Gluten-free base  
1 cup almond flour
¼ cup corn starch (such as Maizena™)
¼ cup butter
1 tbsp granulated sugar

Basic cheese layer
3 packages (8.8 oz – 250g/each) cream cheese (such as Philadelphia™), at room temperature
3 eggs
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla (optional)

Suggested flavours:
Lime – 1 lime; washed
Chocolate Swirl – 3 oz (85g) dark chocolate, melted 
Cherry – 1-2 cups cherry topping (click here for homemade, or canned)

4 small square or rectangular moulds, 2-cup capacity/each (mine were mini loaf pans 3.5×6 in – 8.9×15.2 cm)

Prepare moulds with crumb base:  Melt butter on the stove, or in the microwave (photo below, left); mix almond flour, corn starch and sugar in a bowl, then add to melted butter, incorporating until uniform and crumbly (photo below, centre).  Divide into the four moulds (about six tablespoons per mould); press onto the bottom of each mould to form a flat layer (photo below, right):  

Place moulds on a baking tray, and bake in a 350ºF (180ºC) oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool down to room temperature.

Meanwhile, place cream cheese and sugar in a large mixing bowl (photo below, left).  Beat, preferably with an electric mixer, until sugar has dissolved, and the mix is fluffy and smooth, stopping to scrape from the bowl occasionally, with a spatula (photo below, right):

Add vanilla (if using), then eggs, one by one (photo below, left), beating to incorporate (photo below, right):

The final mix must be very smooth and creamy (photo below, left).  Measure and reserve one cup of cheese mix (for lime flavour), then divide the rest of the mix into three of the prepared moulds (approximately one cup of cheese mix per mould, photo below, right):

Grate about one teaspoon (half of one lime) of lime zest into the reserved cheese mix (photo below, left); mix to incorporate.  Slice lime and squeeze one tablespoon of juice, to add to the flavoured mix (photo below, right):

Stir, then pour into the fourth prepared mould:

Drizzle melted chocolate over one of the other moulds, then swirl around with a skewer:

Place tray with moulds (photo below, left) in the oven at 350ºF (180ºC) and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops look set, but jiggly in the centre.  Remove tray from oven and transfer moulds to a cooling rack (photo below, right):

After five minutes, very gently run a spatula or knife around the edge of the cakes, separating from the mould walls: 

Allow to cool down to room temperature.  Cover with foil (or lids, as shown below):

Allow to chill in the fridge for at least four hours, or overnight.  

I decided to put one plain cheesecake in the freezer, and top the other with one cup of my homemade cherry topping.  In the photo below, shown with the lime cheesecake on the left, and the chocolate swirl one on the right:

Running the spatula along the edge pays off, allowing for easy slicing, and clean transfer to a serving plate: 

The cheese mix is simple, but bakes into an airy and creamy cheesecake, whichever the flavour:

The gluten-free base worked really well, was firm, yet easy to slice, and tasted delicious; it has become my go-to crumb crust, as it calls for much less processed ingredients than Graham crackers.

All the flavours were awesome; I liked them all equally, and for my husband, lime was the clear winner.

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I am bringing my recipe to Full Plate Thursday #652 with Miz Helen @ Miz Helen’s Country Cottage.

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I am also sharing my post at Thursday Favourite Things #620, with Bev @ Eclectic Red Barn, Pam @ An Artful Mom, Katherine @ Katherine’s Corner, Amber @ Follow the Yellow Brick Home, and Linda @ Crafts a la Mode.

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I am joining Fiesta Friday #496  with Angie @ Fiesta Friday. 

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I am sharing my recipe at What’s for Dinner? Sunday Link-Up #431 with Helen @ The Lazy Gastronome.