Baby Food Jar Cheesecakes

This is the first thing that popped into my head when I decided to start this blog. I was rinsing out my son's baby food jars when I decided that they would be the perfect receptacle for tiny cheesecakes. Plus, it only makes sense to try and reuse them since he goes through so many!

The first thing that you'll need to do is clean and sanitize your jars, because heaven knows, nobody wants a cheesecake with pureed green beans in it (or do you??). Clean your jars thoroughly, and then put them in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. Once they've dried, you'll be good to go (This recipe uses 9 4oz jars).

For your crust, mix together 1/2 cup of graham cracker crumbs and 1 Tbsp of melted butter (margarine is for jerks). Scoop 1 Tbsp of the graham cracker mix into each jar and use the back of the spoon to press it into the bottom to form the crust. Once you've done this for each jar, place them in the freezer to set while you mix the filling (side note: if you ever make too much graham cracker mix, like I did, and you plan on using it in a couple of weeks, you can store it in your fridge in an airtight container. You don't even need to use it as a crust - sprinkle it on a hot fudge sundae - yum!)


Ingredients:
13.5 oz softened cream cheese
4.5 oz sugar
0.25 oz cornstarch
zest of 1 small lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
2 oz heavy cream
0.15 oz lemon juice

Equipment Needed:
9 4oz baby food jars
casserole dish
cookie scoop
Stand or handheld mixer with paddle attachment

Mix together at medium speed, the cream cheese, sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, vanilla and salt until combined. Scrape down the bowl as often as needed to make sure that there aren't any rogue lumps of cream cheese.

While the mixer is running, add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Mix until just combined.

With the mixer on low, slowly add the heavy cream and lemon juice. Scrape down the bowl and you're ready to fill your jars!

Use the cookie scoop to fill your jars - do not fill them all the way to the top! I left about 1/4" between the top of the filling and the bottom ridge of the threading, where you'd screw the cap on. This way you won't risk them overflowing, and they'll be easier to cap and freeze, if you know, you don't eat them all the day they're made. Also, if you leave the extra room, you can make a compote with a little fruit and sugar, spoon it into the top of the jar before you serve it and it'll make your cheesecake that much tastier.

Once your jars are filled, place them inside a 9x13 casserole dish and set them in the center of a 350 degree oven. Pull the oven rack out slightly, and very carefully pour water into your casserole dish so that it surrounds the jars, and rises about halfway up the sides. It's safer to pour the water in once the dish is already in the oven, because that way you're less likely spill water everywhere. Just be careful not to get any of the water into the jars or it will mess up your filling. Also, just because it can hold in cake batter or soft ice cream, do not suddenly decide that your rectangle springform pan is the best thing to use for your water bath. The water will leak out, and then you will be left mopping your kitchen floor and cursing your previously beloved springform pan (What? That never happened....).

Bake the jars in the water bath until they set, about 25 minutes. Basically, if you want to see if they are done, jiggle the pan a little. If the tops of the cheesecakes move, they're not done. If they stand firm, they're ready to come out of the oven. Once you take your pan out of the oven (Carefully! Remember, it's now filled with hot water), set it on a cooling rack, and let the cheesecakes cool while still in the pan.

And there you have it! Like I said, the extra room that you leave at the top of the jars will provide the perfect amount of space for a fruit topping, here are two examples of ones that I made:

Caramelized Apples

Fresh Strawberries

Once they're finished, you can keep them in the fridge for a couple of days, otherwise freeze them, and when you feel a craving for cheesecake coming on, let it defrost in the fridge and you'll have a nice little serving without needing to have a whole cake on hand (which is never really a problem).