Oh My Strawberry Goodness!

Strawberry Sauce Bubbling Away

Here in Pennsylvania, it's been pouring all morning.  The kids have been crabby, which in turn makes me crabby and we just needed something to brighten the mood in here.  I think I did the trick.  Once they all settled in on nap mats, I headed to the kitchen for some inspiration...  First thing I saw was some fresh strawberries, and immediately started craving cheesecake.  My mind works like that sometimes.  But then, I had a flash of something, we'll call it genius, and decided to make "Strawberry Cheesecake Baby Bundt Cakes"  I decided on a single serving size because I like lemon curd with my strawberries and my husband does not.  However, after making these and a beautiful strawberry sauce to accompany it, the lemon curd fell by the wayside.  Why over complicate things? 

First I heated the oven to 350, and I thouroughly greased my baby bundt pan This is the kind of pan I used in case you don't know what I'm referring to.

Then, I made the Cheesecake Base:  I used 8 oz of room temp cream cheese (low-fat was all I had but any kind would do), 1 egg, about 1/4 cup of sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla and a teaspoon of lemon juice made up the cheesecake base.  I diced about 4 medium strawberries and added to the mixture.  I filled 9 bundt cakes to about halfway. 

Next, I made the crumb bottom.  I crushed 5 large graham crackers, added 1/3 cup of flour, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of melted butter.  I gently spooned enough crumb mixture on top of the cheesecake batter to cover it.  I filled in until all mixture was used up.  I carefully pressed the mixture together to make it "stick" together. 

I put the pan in the oven and baked for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted was clean.  I wanted to be sure it didn't overly burn. 

Then I put the pan on a cooling rack until the cakes were cooled.  I ran a then knife just around the crust to make it easier to pop them out, put a cookie sheet on top, and flipped it.  They were beautiful!! 

Instead of the thick, cheesecake texture, the strawberries inside gave more moisture and it was more of a cheesecake custard.  Not exactly what I had envisioned but completely and utterly delicious.  I wish more experiments ended that yummy!  Another aspect that I didn't plan but was (well, at least to me) a welcome surprise was that some of the crust "caved in" to make a crumbly, gooey center and I loved it.  The crust is my favorite part so I was in heaven.  I can't describe it enough, you just have to give it a try and make it!

Don't you want to take a bite of that?