Martha’s Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes

Another Christmas gift this year was Martha Stewart’s cupcake book. I have really wanted this for so long. There are just so so so so many great ideas in it! Here is my first one.

Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes

Yields 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

1 package of oreo type cookies

2 lbs. cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup sour cream

pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 275 and line standard muffin tins with cupcake liners. I had the silicone cupcake liners so I used those instead. You don’t have to place these in muffin tins either.

Another cool thing about these cupcakes, is the fill line. The wilton brand ones have a “fill to line” so you wont overload with batter, but it wasn’t needed for this recipe because you its not cupcake batter, but cheesecake batter.

In the bottom of each liner, put a whole cookie. Kind of a pre-made crust.

Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until well blended, scraping down the bowls.

Add sugar slowly and beat and scrape again. Beat in vanilla too.

Beat in eggs one at a time, slowly adding them.

Beat in sour cream and salt.

Take left over cookies and crush. Add this to the batter and mix by hand. A hand with a spatula that is.

Fill each cupcake almost to the top.

Bake for 22 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. They are done when they do not jiggle a whole lot.

Transfer to wire racks to cool. Refrigerate in tins for at least four hours.

In my opinion, the best so far!

First of all… sorry for the delayed post! I came home for Christmas break, and my computer’s charger has been shot. No worries now, its up and running!

Let me show you just a glimpse of what my Christmas gifts look like

This is just a portion of the baking stuff I received too!!! Maybe I should have shown you the depth of the bucket too…

Christmas is so full of baking! I made a couple of things, but I especially wanted to blog this one.

Look at this! It’s a cappuccino fudge cheesecake!I found it awhile back on Smitten Kitchen and immediately bookmarked it. I changed a couple of things from what she did, so my list below will be what I did, not SK. Mostly what I changed are things I did not have.

Oo-La-La. This is probably my prettiest cake to date. I love it. its very rich and filling. With al the calorie intake, it serves 32 people! That is insane!

Cappuccino fudge cheesecake

Crust

1/ box of oreo cookie, or 9 oz of any chocolate sandwhich cookies.
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup  dark brown sugar, packed
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
7 tablespoons hot melted unsalted butter

Ganache

1 1/2 cups heavy or whipping cream
20 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
Nearly 1/4 cup of cold coffee, then finish it off with a little bit of rum to the top. Dark or Light rum is fine.

Filling

3 8 ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons rum, dark or light
1 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons mild-flavored (light) molasses
3 large eggs

Topping

1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For a 9 inch springform pan.

Crust:

In a food processor, add cookies, chopped chocolate, brown sugar, and nutmeg. Grind until all is broken up.

Add butter and proces until it clumbes together. Make sure to get all around the bowl.

Transfer crumbs to a 9-inch springform pan. Wrap hands in saran wrap to keep it from sticking. Use all of the crumbs, making a bottom layer, and patting it up the walls of the pan, leaving about 1-1 1/2 inches from top.

Ganache:

In a large saucepan, bring cream to a simmer. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Whisk until all is melted and smooth. Pour two cups over the crust and freeze until it is firm.

I cleaned up here and washed everything. By the time I was finished with this and the next step, it was ready. Keep the rest of the ganache covered at room temperature for decorating purposes later.

Bring cream to simmer in large saucepan. Remove from heat; add chocolate and Kahlúa. Whisk until chocolate is melted and ganache is smooth. Pour 2 cups ganache over bottom of crust. Freeze until ganache layer is firm, about 30 minutes. Reserve remaining ganache; cover and let stand at room temperature to use later for decorating.

Filling:

Place rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350. Mix cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer. If you need to soften the cream cheese, do so. Make sure sugar isnt hiding anywhere in your bowl too!!!

In a seperate bowl, stir in rum, ground coffee, vanilla, and molasses. Truth be told, I forgot this step! I had tiny bits of coffee in my cake, but you couldnt taste them really. I still advise doing this step. It make it look nicer too. Mix together until coffee dissolves, then add to the cream cheese mixture. Beat in 1 egg at a time.

This is what mine looked like.

Grainy. So mix that coffee up!

Take your pan out of the freezer and pour mixture right ontop.

It’ll be very full, but its okay!  Put a water bath in the oven to keep it from cracking. Also, do not open the oven for the first 30 mins. You want all the moisture to stay put! Place cheesecake on a rimmed baking sheet in the oven and bake for one hour. Once finished, transfer to a cooling rack for 15 mins, meanwhile prepare the toping. Don’t turn down the oven either.

Topping:

Whisk sour cream, sugar, and vanilla in medium bowl.  Pour topping over hot cheesecake, making sure to over it entirely.

Bake until topping is set, about 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer cheesecake to rack and  refrigerate hot cheesecake on rack until cool, about three hours.

Remove from fridge and run small sharp knife between pan and crust to losen it. Release pan sides and put on platter to be served on. Fill a pastry bag with a tip, star or plain, and pipe the design above, which is diagonls first, then stars around the edge. Chill for 6 hours before serving and set out for 15 before cutting. If you have espresso beans, place them on the intersections of each line. I sure wish I had some!

This cake is best eaten a day or so after it is made, so prepare it ahead of all other desserts and get it out of the way! It truly is delicious!