Easy Bite-Size Cheesecake!

THE RECIPE: Lemon Cheesecake Squares with Fresh Berries

Oh, those Lemon Cheesecake Squares! So easy to make, so, so easy to eat. So easy that they're hard to write about, because I'd rather just make a pan and feed it to you than try to think of things to say about them. Coherent things, I mean. "MMMmmmmmmm," or "Ohhhhhaaaa"-- which is what you'd say if you tasted them--convey the experience rather eloquently, but I am required to provide something a little more articulate.

So let's say this: these little bites of goodness offer the knockout flavor and silky texture of full-fledged cheesecake for a fraction of the time and effort. You make them in a brownie pan (8" square by 2" deep), and they bake in just 35 minutes. A regular cheesecake takes a springform pan and over an hour.

You start off with a graham cracker crust, which is simply crushed graham crackers and melted butter mixed together and pressed into the baking pan. While the recipe instructs you to put the crackers in a plastic bag and go at them with a rolling pin, I used my food processor. Washing the food processor parts is a pain, but here's a tip: Stretch a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the work bowl, and the whole top portion stays clean. Try it sometime. (The pros and cons of using a food processor.)

Here's another tip: if you have a second square baking pan identical to your first one, you can use it to press the graham cracker crust to a uniform flatness and compression. Just put it down into the first pan (on top of the crust mixture), and press down hard. Easy.

I also made things easier by using my standing mixer to to beat the cream cheese and sugar together; one of the main advantages over a handheld mixer (aside from power and efficiency) is that it frees you up to work on something else. So while the sugar and the cream cheese were getting to know each other at high speed, I assembled the lemon zest, lemon juice (zest that lemon before you juice it!), an egg, sour cream, and vanilla extract that make up the rest of the batter. These get added to the sugar-cheese mixture once it becomes fluffy and smooth (your cream cheese needs to be really and truly room temperature—at least 65 degrees fahrenheit—for this to happen easily) and mixed until combined. It seemed looser than a standard cheesecake filling, but this made it easier to spread with my offset spatula, which is one of the best tools I ever bought. (What to look for when buying the perfect spatula.)
 

In thirty minutes the cheesecake was puffed and very slightly browned, and after it cooled I popped it into the refrigerator to chill overnight. The next morning I cut it into 16 more-or-less equal squares--being sure to wipe off the knife after each cut--and decorated the pieces with raspberries and blackberries. However, the squares seemed to be missing something, so I slipped around the corner to the service end of the Star Market where there's some mint growing wild, and pinched a few topmost sprigs for decoration.

They were fun to make, but the best part was going around and handing them out. First stop was back to the Star, where I treated Adrian, Sara, and West--who is always hungry. Jesse at the meat counter gave me a great tip for getting berries to stick to the top of tarts and cheesecakes (some of mine had shifted): dip the bottoms in simple syrup. Thirty minutes later my office colleagues demolished the balance of the plate, and my family took care of the rest that evening.

I have big plans for this recipe. I can picture cutting back a little on the lemon juice and topping the squares with farmer's market peaches, like the ones from Frog Hollow. Maybe even mashing up a little ripe peach and add it to the cheesecake mixture before baking. Mmmmmm. The possibilities seem to march right up and present themselves. I like that in a dessert.

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