Day 10 of 12: Pomegranate Mini Cheesecakes

A few days ago our fellow soup swapper and blogger friend Knox Gardner shared with us his idea to top cheesecake with pomegranate seeds! We thought this was a great idea... why not stop there? A drizzle of pomegranate sauce instead of the traditional cherry topping would be deliciously decorative too. Thanks for the inspiration, Knox!

Anyone who knows me well can tell you that the mere utterance of a new food idea will send me bolting to the kitchen almost immediately to start tinkering around. The way I see it, my impulsive culinary adventures produce so much more than a sinkful of dirty dishes and a decent night's dinner on the table--they feed my soul and nourish my creative spirit. There's no place that makes me happier than my kitchen.

OK, so there has been one tiny problem we've had to deal with during the 12 Days of Pomegranate: our year-old oven was suddenly out of commission somewhere around Day 5 or 6. This means that many of the pomegranate ideas we've had have gone untested up until now!

I refuse to deal with appliance service clowns...uh, I mean "technicians"... if I can help it, so I decided to do a little research and order the part myself. Happily, this morning a shiny new oven sensor was delivered to my door. So I took out the faulty one, proceeded to give it a few choice words before I popped in the new one. It was surprisingly easy and after all was said in done I was baking again in about an hour! Hallelujah! All is well with the world again.

But we were talking cheesecake, right? Keep in mind that this recipe is for mini cheesecakes made in muffin tins, so if you want to make one big cheesecake, you'll need to adjust both the cooking temperature and the time quite a bit. See the bottom of the recipe for suggested cooking instructions.

Individual Cheesecakes with Pomegranate Sauce
Makes 24 mini cheesecakes

Crust:
18 graham crackers, 1 1/2 pkgs (I used chocolate grahams)
10 Tbsp butter, melted
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar

Filling:
2 lbs (4-8 oz pkgs) cream cheese
1 cup sugar
5 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 12-muffin tins with silver liners.

2. Puree graham crackers in food processor until crumbs are fine.  Add melted butter and pulse to combine fully with the cracker crumbs. 

3. Press 1 heaping tablespoon graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each lined muffin tin, then use a small juice glass to press the crust firmly to the bottom.



4. Bake the crusts at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes, until slightly crisp to touch.  Let cool while making the filling. Reduce oven to 300 degrees and put a small sheet pan of water at bottom of oven to create moisture while baking the cheesecakes. *If making one large cheesecake, see time and temperature notes at the end of the recipe.

5. Using paddle attachment,  add cream cheese to mixer and let mix until smooth and no lumps remain.  Add sugar and let the mixture blend on high speed until sugar has dissolved into the cream cheese.<

6. With mixer on low speed, add vanilla then the eggs one at a time, making sure to scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl very thoroughly. Fold in the sour cream, then the mixture is ready to go into the tins.

7. Using a quick-release scooper, add enough filling to reach the top of the liner. Bake at 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes, just until middle is set. A good indicator of doneness is when they don't jiggle in the center when the pan is lightly shaken.



8. Remove tins from oven and let the cheesecakes cool completely on a cooling rack, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

9. The sauce is best when it is a bit warm. Top the cheesecakes with the pomegranate sauce (see recipe below), sprinkle pomegranate seeds on top and either put in fridge to set sauce or serve immediately.

Pomegranate Sauce:
Makes about 1 1/2 cups

1 cup pomegranate juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp corn starch slurry (corn starch dissolved in 4 Tbsp water)
1/2 cup pomegranate arils, optional (add after sauce has cooled or sprinkle on top after spooning sauce on cheesecakes)

1. Heat in a small saucepan the pom juice, sugar and lemon juice. 

2. Bring to a boil, then add the corn starch slurry and return to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon until thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon.

3. Let sauce cool and add pomegranate arils if you wish.

*To make one 9" cheesecake:
Press crust into 9" springform pan and bake for 8 minutes. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, then turn oven down to 225 degrees and bake an additional 1 1/2 hours. Turn off the oven and let the cheesecake cool inside with the door oven for about an hour (which will keep the cake from cracking.)  Then let the cake cool on the counter for another few hours and refrigerate overnight.