Spring-form Spring Treats - Mini Cheesecakes
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Sweet Strawberry  The first kind that I decided to make was "Sweet Strawberry." Initially, I designed the layers a few months back. I dug through Pinterest and opened dozens of links and read a bunch of other blogs. My plan was to make a mini cheesecake with a graham cracker crust, and a plain cheesecake filling topped with strawberry sauce and fresh honey-dipped strawberries. Pretty simple. It's your stereo-typical cheesecake, but it's delicious. So let's get started with the crust...  This simple graham cracker crust is made of one cup of graham cracker crumbs, 3 Tbs of melted butter, and 3 Tbs of good ol' plain sugar. Here is the link to the Pin that helped me really create these cakes in the end. How-To-Make-Mini-Cheesecakes-A-Step-By-Step-Guide
This is where I got this perfect, super easy crust recipe. I started by putting a bunch of graham crackers in a plastic bag, and crushing them with the dull end of a thick butter knife. I repeated this step until I had a full cup of it. Then I added 3 Tbs of sugar, and 3 Tbs of melted butter. As long as your hands are clean, you can mix them all together with your hands, which I find to be easier and more fun. I ended up with a crumbly, almost soft mixture. Next I pressed it into two of my pans, which I had previously greased a bit just to be safe. just to be safe. This should bake for about 7 minutes at 300 degrees Fahrenheit. After that, it will need to cool. Keep in mind that it will most likely not be very hard yet, but we will bake it more later in the process. And let me tell you: the crust is amazing. I practically shoved all the extra crumbs into my mouth. It tastes like cookies, so be prepared to be addicted.
 Next is the filling. Again, I generally followed along the recipe that was given in the above link. But this recipe also made 4 mini cheesecakes, when I was only making 2 of each kind. So I split the filling recipe in half and added a couple of my own adjustments as well. So in the end I used 1 and a half 8 ounce packages of plain cream cheese, 3/8 a cup of sugar (right in the middle of 1/4 and 1/2), 1/2 tsp of vanilla, about 1 or 2 eggs, less than 1/2 a Tbs lemon juice (for freshness and moisture), and a little more than 1/2 a package of vanilla pudding mix. I used an electric mixer to combine it all. If clumps start to form, simply increase the mixer speed to end up with a smoother, creamier substance. Next, I spooned the mixture into an icing bag and piped it on top of the cooled crust layer. This was baked for about 45 minutes at 300 degrees.
So, here's the thing: all those months that I was doing research and making lists, I knew that I would have to bake it in a water bath. But at the time, I totally forgot. It ended up not making a difference for me though, because my cheesecakes were fine. The point of a water bath is to prevent cracking. My cheesecakes came out a little darker and curled in on the ends, but they weren't cracked at all. Maybe it's because they were baked at a relatively low temperature, maybe it's because I added pudding mix, but I'll never know.
Anyway, a little while after they came out of the oven, I stuck them in the fridge to let them cool a bit more and harden. The crust will definitely need to go in the fridge in order to harden fully. Once it was in there for at least 4 hours, I ran a knife along the edges to loosen it before gently, carefully, taking off the pan.
The next day is when I added the fancy toppings. I cooked a dreamy strawberry sauce and decorated it with fresh strawberries. The sauce tasted like it was from I-Hop and I did happen to have the left-overs on top of pancakes and it was pretty good. Here's the link to the recipe:
I put 1/2 a cup of sugar, 1/2 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp vanilla, and 2 cups of diced strawberries in a medium-sized sauce pan, and cooked them over medium heat. Stir frequently until the mixture comes to a boil. Once that happens, lower the temp. and stir for about fifteen minutes straight. Remove from the stove and allow the sauce to cool. It can be stored until it needs to be used, or put on top right away. Lastly, I dipped a full, fresh strawberry into a bowl of honey, then placed it atop the sauce.
So that is the first kind! It's nothing unique, but it's fun and yummy. :)
Rich Lemon
I followed the same directions when I made this chocolate crust, but I replaced the graham cracker crumbs with Oreo cookie crumbs. I'll admit that it took me a bit longer because I had to scrape off all of the cream from inside the cookies before crushing them using the same previous method. Besides a change in cookie, I did the same thing to create this crust. You can find the directions above. ^ ;)
 For the filling, I used almost the exact same ingredients, just with a few changes so that it was lemon-flavored. Using an electric mixer, I combined 1 and a half 8 ounce packages of plain cream cheese, 3/8 a cup of sugar, 1 or 2 eggs, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/2 a Tbs of lemon juice, and a full package of lemon pudding mix. Once it was all combined in a smooth batter, I again pumped it on top of the cooled crust to create a second, thicker layer. This was baked for 45 minutes at 300 degrees. I let it cool for a little bit once it was done, then once again I put it in the fridge for 4+ hours or overnight. 
After it hardened completely I took my time patiently removing the cakes from their pans.
The toppings for this kind were much less time-consuming, but almost just as cute. I melted some chocolate melts in the microwave, then drizzled it on top of the two cakes. That re-hardened pretty quickly. Lastly, for the finishing touch, I added a lemon slice and a chocolate drop on top of each one. Looking back, I think I could have created a better lemon garnish, but at the time I hadn't thought of that until I had practically butchered my only lemon.
 So that was my first time making cheesecakes. I suppose it went as though I thought it might. Since the strawberry was the first one that I made, it was a lot more stressful than the lemon one, because by the time that I got to the lemon one I kind of knew what I was doing. By the way, the strawberry was my favorite because of the delicious sauce and crunchy, sweet crust. At the moment, I don't plan on making more cheesecakes any time soon. Cheesecakes and I are acquaintances - I don't love them but I certainly don't hate them. Sometimes they're good and sometimes they're bad. I feel the same way about cream cheese icing. I guess it's the whole cheese-in-desserts-thing that doesn't seem quite right to me... But I certainly enjoyed making them! Thanks for reading! Enjoy! Mini Cheesecakes Sweet Strawberry (makes two) Ingredients
Crust
Filling
Topping
Instructions
Rich Lemon (makes two) Ingredients
Crust
Filling
Topping
Instructions
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