Mini lemon cheesecakes

As I've stated before, I make a mean cheesecake. But sometimes, you don't want to go to all of that trouble. Sometimes you just want a little bite of cheesecake, and these fit the bill. Granted, they're not as sinfully delicious as my full-sized cheesecake, very few things are. But they go down a treat and are easy peasy. And, just as with ordinary cheesecake, the variations are endless. The principle for each variation is the same: cookie crumb base with cream cheesy center. How you flavor the filling and what type of cookie you use is arbitrary. Most often, mine are lemon. But they could easily be any other type of citrus or fruit, chocolate, or all manner of other sweet.

This receipt gives you enough filling for 24 delectable little morsels.

Mini lemon cheesecakes

1/2 cup cookie crumbs
8 ounces softened cream cheese
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
zest of two lemons
juice of two lemons

Line two mini muffin tins with paper cups. Fill the bottom of each one with a teaspoon of cookie crumbs from cookies you've blitzed in the food processor. Beat together the remaining ingredients and spoon on top of the cookie crumb base. Bake at 350ºF for 10 to 12 minutes.

Note: I let these cool and top each one with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. If you can find a delectable lemon sandwich cookie, use those for the crust. But they must be delectable, not rubbish. Otherwise, I would recommend shortbread.

Again, for any other type of citrus, just substitute the desired fruit: lime, orange, tangerine, etc. If you want another type of fruit, I would add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the filling, in place of the zest and juice, and a tablespoon of cream, to make up for the volume. Once they're baked off and cooled, top with a fruit compote, adding whipped cream to be extra luscious.