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No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake Mini’s

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BerryMiniIMG_0438When it’s 100 degrees outside, I head indoors to make cheesecake – miniature no-bake cheesecakes, in muffin tins.

Just for fun, I make them in multiple sizes. Part of the joy is finishing the cheesecakes with different toppings: berries, whipped cream, sprinkles…you get the idea.

This recipe fills 12 standard muffin cups plus 12 mini-muffin cups (fitted with paper cupcake liners). Or, make several custard cups (again with liners). I suggest one standard muffin cup portion per person, but realistically, some people will clamor for seconds, so give them a mini or two.

Tips:

  • Serve well-chilled: the filling and crust are more fragile than a baked cheesecake, and are at their best when cold.
  • To tamp down the crumbs in the liners (very important), use the bottom of a plastic-wrapped spice jar, one that just fits the cavity. Jars with tapered bottoms (like McCormick) work great.
  • No maple syrup? Use agave nectar or other syrup (or skip the syrup)
  • Espresso powder boosts the chocolate flavor; if you prefer, omit it and the water, and increase the vanilla extract to 1 tablespoon.

SideMini IMG_0430No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake Mini’s

By Kate Heyhoe

Serves 12

You’ll need an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer for this recipe, a saucepan, muffin tins and paper liners, and at least 4 hours for the cheesecakes to chill.

Crust:

  • 1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup

 Filling:

  • 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
  • 2 teaspoons water
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1-1/4 cups powdered sugar (5-1/2 ounces)
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped

 CrustSpiceBottle 47IMG_0394Crust:

  • Stir the crumbs, butter and syrup together until evenly mixed. Place paper liners in muffin tins. For medium tins, spoon about 2 tablespoons crumbs into each cavity. For mini-muffin tins, use about 1 tablespoon crumbs. Tamp down the crumbs to form an even layer (see Tips).

Filling:

  • In a small bowl, combine the espresso powder with the water until dissolved. Add the vanilla extract.
  • In a mixing bowl with a electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and espresso mixture together until smooth (no lumps).
  • In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stir the cream and both chocolates together until the chocolate melts and forms a smooth, shiny sauce. Remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm.
  • Pour the chocolate sauce into the cream cheese mixture. Beat on low to medium speed until uniformly mixed.

FilledTins IMG_0399

 

  • Layer the filling over the crust in each muffin cavity, adding enough mixture to completely fill the liner. This will be messy. Use two utensils, such as a silicon spatula and a spoon.

 

  • WaxPaper IMG_0404Place a sheet of waxed paper or plastic wrap over the entire muffin tin, and run your hand over it to smooth the tops. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours and up to 3 days.
  • To serve, peel away the paper liners. Garnish with glee: powdered sugar, cocoa powder, chocolate shavings, sea salt, chopped nuts, whipped cream, or berries. The sky’s the limit. Serve well-chilled (see Tips).

Chocolate’s Next Conquest: India

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choco-tajIn Western tradition, a dinner guest brings a bottle of wine as a host or hostess gift.

In India, Cadbury wants to make Toblerone the gift to give – it’s a strategy for growing the chocolate market in India. And it’s working. Hershey’s and other chocolate makers have also zeroed in on India, a subcontinent ready to be conquered.

TobleroneLongCadbury’s Toblerone, with its distinctive triangular box, is the leading brand in airport duty free stores around the world. It’s considered a premium brand and Cadbury India (a division of Kraft Foods) is actively promoting it and its other premium brands, including Cadbury Silk, in India.

In a nation where gifting is a solid tradition, chocolate gifting accounts for 6 percent of India’s gifting sales. The biggest brands: Hershey’s, Ferrero Rocher, Lindt, and Cadbury, which at 70 percent dominates India’s nascent chocolate market.

So how much chocolate are we talking about? Between 2005 and 2012, India’s chocolate consumption tripled – meaning it jogged from 40 grams to about 160 grams person, or less than two 3.5-ounce chocolate bars. Undeniably, this is a meager amount. But international cocoa producers are on a mission to expand their product everywhere. And wherever sales are low, there’s room to grow.

As incomes rise in India (and elsewhere), consumers tend to trade up, especially in food and grocery items. They start buying more expensive brands, and products with higher quality, better packaging, and distinctive branding.

India has long had a love affair with sweets and gift-giving, and Indian-made chocolates do exist (Amul is the largest). But international mega-brands have aggressively pitched their chocolates as status-symbol gifts during Diwali, the Indian festival of light and the most important holiday of the year. People increasingly prefer pristinely packaged chocolates over the mithrai, traditional Indian sweets sold at shops and stands. And perhaps chocolate’s caffeine and theobromine content creates a chemically induced, feel-good habit that non-chocolate mithrai can’t provide.

Chocolate Crimes and Frivolity 

Diwali chocolate-gifting is now popular enough to spawn both counterfeit chocolate sales and luxury chocolate jewelry.

Some of the Diwali woes: Fake chocolate sold under big name brands; chocolate adulterated with minerals to increase the weight and deepen color; and gravelly texture from inferior sugar. India’s newfound passion for chocolate has inspired spurious products.

Luxury products also get a boost. One designer is selling chocolate jewelry, gilded with edible gold. Gold is the ultimate Indian status symbol, and with gold prices so high, gilded chocolate seems like a novel alternative.

But whether gilded or not, chocolate is invading India, and no one seems to mind.

Espresso-Flavored Char Shu with Java Marmalade

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Espresso is the secret ingredient in this pork recipe

Espresso is the secret ingredient in this pork recipe

You know those glazed pieces of pork hanging in Chinatown restaurant windows? This is my coffee-spiked version. It’s simple: You marinate the pork, broil it until almost done, baste with the reduced marinade, finish under the broiler, and slice when cool. Serve with hot mustard and the reduced “java marmalade.”

Espresso-Flavored Char Shu Pork with Java Marmalade

Traditional Chinese “barbecued” pork gets kicked up with coffee in the marinade. 

By Kate Heyhoe

  • 1 pork tenderloin (1 to 1-1/4 pounds)
  • 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons molasses
  • 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
  • 1 tablespoon triple sec, or dry sherry (optional)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 finely chopped scallions (green and white parts)
  • 1-inch piece fresh ginger, minced
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • Hot Mustard, for serving (below; optional)

1. Cut the tenderloin into 2 equal-sized, short, plump pieces. Dissolve the espresso powder in the soy sauce (it’s okay if a few granules remain). In a shallow baking dish or a resealable plastic bag, combine the soy sauce mixture, molasses, hoisin, triple sec or sherry (if using), garlic, scallion, ginger, and sesame oil. Add the pork and coat completely. Marinate, refrigerated, for 2 hours to overnight, turning the pork occasionally in the marinade.

2. Preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with nonstick foil, or spritz regular foil with nonstick spray. Place the pork on the foil-lined baking sheet. Pour the marinade into a saucepan, bring it to a boil over medium-high heat, and boil, stirring often, until it reduces to a thick, syrupy glaze, about 5 minutes. When it cools slightly, the sauce will resemble marmalade, dense and sweet with bits of scallion, garlic, and ginger.

3. Broil the pork 5 to 7 minutes, until the top takes on color and starts to look cooked. Turn the pieces over and broil another 5 minutes. Spoon some of the thickened sauce over the pork, coating the top and all sides. Broil for another 3 to 6 minutes, until the glaze caramelizes and turns a deep mahogany color, and the pork is just cooked through. (Pork is done when the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F. At this temperature, the interior will still be pale pink but safe to eat.)

4. Let the pork rest 10 minutes (or up to 1 hour at room temperature) before slicing. Slice the pork at an angle and overlap the slices on a plate. Accompany with dishes of the reduced “marmalade” and hot mustard, if using. (Sliced char shu is meant to be enjoyed at room temperature, and can be made a day or two before slicing and serving.)

Serves 4 as appetizers, or 2 as a meal.

Hot Mustard: Mix together 2 teaspoons each dry mustard (or Chinese powdered mustard) and water until smooth. Let the mixture rest 10 to 30 minutes before serving.

Iced Coffee Syrup, for Sparkling Coffee Spritzer

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CoffeeSyrupCaptionCoffee Spritzers, here we come!

Think coffee with cool, bubbly carbonation. These babies go down way too easy… Sweet, concentrated coffee syrup pops with iced sparkling water. Velvety vanilla undertones smooth out the drink. Are you thirsty yet?

Then let’s make coffee syrup. With the syrup and cans of carbonated water on hand, you can mix sparkling iced coffee spritzers in a snap. Tweak the flavors: add some ground cardamom, cinnamon, or cocoa powder before boiling. Serve with a twist of lemon or orange rind for an elegant mocktail, or add alcohol of choice for an iced coffee cocktail. And, if you’re not already drooling…

Iced Coffee Float: vanilla ice cream + whipped cream put this drink over the top, in all the right ways.

Tips:

  • Turbinado sugar adds hints of molasses and honey, similar to a mild brown sugar. But you can substitute with white sugar.
  • I prefer fine white sugar; the crystals are smaller and dissolve more easily in beverages than regular sugar, but either is fine as long as the sugar completely dissolves.
  • Sea salt in a syrup? Yup. It makes the other flavors shine (it’s why sea salted-caramels taste outrageously good). Use just a pinch.
  • You’ll need a paper coffee filter and a strainer of some kind. A damp filter works best: just wet with water, squeeze out excess, and place in sieve over a quart measuring cup or other large container.

CoffeeSyrupDrip

Katie Caffeine’s Iced Coffee Syrup

By Kate Heyhoe
  • 1/2 cup turbinado sugar (4 oz/112 gr)
  • 1 cup granulated white sugar (7 oz/198 gr)
  • 1/2 cup ground coffee (1.3 oz/38 gr)
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Combine both sugars, the coffee, vanilla, and salt with 1-1/2 cups water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat and boil gently for 1 minute (WARNING: Don’t stop watching the mixture: it can boil over in a flash). Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Strain through a dampened coffee filter set in a sieve; this may take as long as 30 minutes. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Makes about 1-3/4 cups syrup.

Sparkling Iced Coffee Spritzer:

Combine 1 part syrup to 3 parts carbonated water, or to taste. Serve over ice. Slurp it down and make another.

10 Best Coffee Quotes From *Living* People

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sew-there

10 Best Coffee Quotes from Living People –

Tired of quotes as stale as yesterday’s coffee, from dead people like Einstein and Lincoln? CaffeineAndYou.com delivers coffee quotes from living people – folks still kicking and ticking (at least for now). Don’t forget to share the fun and leave Comments about your favorites…

“Do you love a decaffeinated hazelnut-flavored coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts with plenty of sugar and skim milk? If so, please skip ahead to the next section. We’re here to talk about tasting actual coffee, not sweetened brown milk.”

– Ruth Bourdain, Comfort Me with Offal *

“In Seattle you haven’t had enough coffee until you can thread a sewing machine while it’s running.”

– Jeff Bezos

“Starbucks says they are going to start putting religious quotes on cups. The very first one will say, ‘Jesus! This cup is expensive!'”

– Conan O’Brien

“It just seems so watery…Really? That’s what people drink everyday? I don’t see the point in that.”

– Anderson Cooper in 2011, on trying coffee for the first time

“I’ll quit coffee. It won’t be easy drinking my Bailey’s straight, but I’ll get used to it. It’ll still be the best part of waking up.”

– Megan Mullally

“This is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard flight…one, from…here to there. We’ll be cruising at a height of ten feet, going up to twelve and a half feet if we see anything big. And our copilot today is a flask of coffee.”

– Eddie Izzard

“Too much coffee. Too much coffee and Gatorade. It’s a hell of a mix. If you’re ever tired in the morning, just try that mix, and tell me what you think.”

– Kevin Garnett

“I put instant coffee in a microwave oven and almost went back in time.”

– Steven Wright

“At some point, all of us start wondering how much coffee we can drink before our hearts explode.”

– Phil Broughton, Funranium Labs’ Black Blood of the Earth

“What’s silly is paying five bucks for hot milk and flavored syrup! But now I see what’s really been going on all this time! They charge you all that money because they need it for the R & D! Somewhere on the outskirts of Seattle, there’s a secret facility with higher security than Area 51, and inside there are men with poor eyesight and bad haircuts wearing white coats, and they’re trying to make the Holy Grail of all coffee drinks… the Triple Nonfat Double Bacon Five-Cheese Mocha!”

– Kevin Hearne, from Hammered

And a bonus quote to put the crema in your coffee:

“I like light green, sometimes red is fun to look at, not a fan of yellow, unless it’s in a rainbow or on a coffee mug or on a happy face.”

– Chris Kattan  🙂 

* Technically Ruth Bourdain is a parody mash-up of Ruth Reichl and Anthony Bourdain. Ruth may not be real, but the mystery writer behind her voice is, so she’s very much alive and kicking. And for more good quotes from authors and famous people (alive and dead), check out Goodreads.com.

 

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© 2017, Kate Heyhoe and CaffeineAnd You.com. All Rights Reserved

Meet Kate

About Kate Heyhoe

I'm an author and journalist specializing in food and cooking. Caffeine Basics is my ninth book. I've written about the U.S. wine industry, international foods, shrinking your "cookprint," and cooking with kids. Great Bar Food at Home was a James Beard Award finalist, and Cooking Green: Reducing … More