Phyllo Cheesecake Tartlets

As promised on the PLUG mailing list, here is the recipe I used this evening for my cheesecake tartlets. Those of you who read my post on baking cheesecake already know some of the basics behind it. Those of you who read my more recent tutorial on making phyllo cups will know the rest. But let me give you some more exact details.

Phyllo Cheesecake Tartlets

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
48 phyllo cups

I baked 48 phyllo cups the night before, as per the directions in my tutorial. When I was ready, I preheated my oven to 350F. I used a hand mixer to cream the cheese by itself in a bowl, and then added the sugar and continued to cream until it was fully integrated, stopped a couple of times to completely scrape the bowl (including sides and bottom). I added the eggs and vanilla extract, and continued to mix until fully integrated, again stopping to scrape twice. Then I poured the batter into a plastic zip-top bag, snipped off a corner, and piped into the phyllo cups. I had just enough for 48 cups. I baked at 350F for about 10 to 12 minutes, until the centers no longer jiggled, them moved to the counter to cool. When cooled, I sprinkled with mini chocolate chips. It looked something like this:



For some reason the color was a little washed out, so I attempted to correct it with Photoshop. I think I was almost successful. Now, why did I use such a high ratio of egg? Mostly because I wanted to stretch the batter, to make it last a few more cups. But since I had a higher ratio of liquid, it did turn out just a little more custardy. Because each cup was so small, and baking time was so short, there was really no need for a water bath, which would have made a soggy mess of everything anyway.

You can use any cheesecake mixture you want for these, and it will likely work out just fine. Today I used plain. In my first attempt, I used a key lime white chocolate recipe that I have managed to misplace since. In that case, I garnished with raspberries and took a photo, which now resides in my wallpaper area.