It seems everyone wants to celebrate Valentine’s Day at their favorite restaurant, but not me! Going out to eat on a holiday is not only expensive but it takes too much time! First you wait for a table and then you wait for your food. Sometimes you have chips or peanuts or popcorn to snack on while you wait. By the time you are served, you may be too full to enjoy your meal. I would much rather celebrate Valentine’s Day by fixing my sweetheart an extra special dinner. If you believe the saying “actions speak louder than words” then making his favorite meal is the best way to say “I love you”. I usually ask Mike what menu he wants, and through the years it has varied. At first it was steak, baked potatoes and steamed veggies. Now it is more likely to be heart healthy foods like chicken or grilled salmon. One thing has remained constant: he always chooses cheesecake for dessert. After trying many recipes, we both decided the very best is the rich and creamy “Cheesecake Supreme” topped with a cherry glaze. It is the ultimate dessert for our Valentine dinner.
Making cheesecake is truly is a labor of love. First, you must have a good quality spring-form pan. For the best results you should use only the best ingredients: 5 packages of cream cheese, six eggs, heavy cream and a cube of real butter for the crust. It takes about an hour to bake and another 2 hours to cool it slowly to room temperature. The longer you chill it, the better it is. I try to make it the day before so it chills 12 hours or more. Because it is laden with calories and saturated fats, Mike and I decided it would be a splurge only on special occasions.
In a family with eight children, special occasions came often as we celebrated their birthdays. Our birthday tradition was similar to our Valentine’s tradition. My children got to choose the menu for a special family dinner and I baked them their favorite cake for dessert. I convinced them that pie and cheesecake were not in the cake category, but when my boys became teenagers, all three of them wanted Cheesecake Supreme. Being a loving mother and wanting to please them, I did as they requested. Some years we had as many as five dinners where cheesecake was the dessert.
It was a great day when I found a mini cheesecake recipe. It helped simplify my life for birthday dinners and other special events. They are easy to make and bake in half the time as regular cheesecake. Making them a day ahead makes your meal time preparation so much easier. I make mini cheesecakes quite often for my family, but Mike is my “yobo”- which is “honey” in Korean. He still gets the very best Cheesecake Supreme so he knows just how much I love him.
Mini Cheesecakes
2 (8 oz) pkgs. cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
12 vanilla wafers
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
Allow cream cheese to come to room temperature or soften in the microwave for about 15 second each. Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Put a vanilla wafer in the bottom of 12 baking cups in a standard muffin tin. (I like to use the foil variety.) Fill each with the cheese mixture until almost full. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Combine sour cream, sugar and lemon juice. Remove the cheesecakes from the oven and put a tablespoon of the sour cream mixture on each. Return them to the oven to bake for five more minutes. Cool for about 30 minutes at room temperature and then chill at least 3 hours or longer. Top with your favorite fruit topping such as cherry or blueberry pie filling. Strawberry or raspberry topping is also good when fresh fruit is available.
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