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Recipe Review: 2 Minute (Microwaved) Lime Cheesecake

090109-microwavcheesecake.jpg We know what you're thinking, because we thought the same thing at first! Cheesecake in 2 minutes and made in the microwave?! It doesn't sound like a good idea, let alone delicious one. But our fears were put to rest when the super star results spoke for themselves!

 
 

We first came across this recipe over at Slashfood and our first thought was straight up, "Really? There's no WAY that can be good." We set to work, made a few adjustments to the basic idea and produced an extra speedy cheesecake that, if we don't say so ourselves, hits the spot.

It's a perfect dessert for a small family, couple or even college dorm tenant. Likewise, it's perfect to feed to a crowd with little preparation, fuss or even cost! It should work out just fine with other citrus fruits if you aren't a big lime fan. Here's how it goes together:

2 Minute Lime Cheesecake
Yields 2-8 servings

3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup gingersnap cookie crumbs (we doubled gingersnaps and omitted the graham crackers)
1 tablespoon sugar
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of one lime
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (alternately, you can try Key lime juice)
1 egg
1 tablespoon potato starch (can be omitted)

Combine graham/cookie crumbs with 1 tablespoon of sugar and melted butter. Divide into 8 paper muffin liners or 2 pint size mason jars (Note: We found the papers to work, but they were quite soggy and didn't offer much in the way of structure. We much preferred the mason jars!). Press crumbs into bottom.

Mix remaining ingredients until smooth. Divide into liners or jars and place in a glazed ceramic vessel. Ramekins, baking dishes, exc. The cupcakes will take the shape of the item they're placed in, so keep that in mind if presenting these for a party. (Slashfood suggests using a 4oz ramekin for each liner, but since we've trimmed down our kitchen that wasn't an option and used an 8x8 baking dish to hold the liners in).

Place in microwave for 2 minutes (if you don't have a rotating tray, do 1 minute, turn and heat for 1 minute more). Microwave for 30 second intervals until top of cheesecake appears dry. We found we didn't need any additional time, but others have needed up to 2 minutes.

Let sit in refrigerator for 1 hour before serving. After cooling, there will be a slight dimpling of the top, so make sure to garnish with a little whipped cream or lime curd for an extra tasty and beautiful treat!

They could be the perfect thing to curb your late night sweet tooth!
Enjoy!

Related: Cherry Cheesecake Ice Cream

(via: Slashfood)
(Image: Sarah Rae Trover)

Tags

Recipe Review, dessert, pie, microwave, school, lime, quick, dorm, cheesecake, sweets

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Comments (10)

I like the idea of having an individual size portion, but with the amount of ingredients involved, I would probably prefer to just make a normal sized cheesecake.

posted by taraht on September 1st 2009 at 12:21pm
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Do you put the jars into the ramikens? Or only if you are using paper liners?

posted by aleec on September 1st 2009 at 1:53pm
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I didn't put the jar in a ramiken, just set it in the microwave as was. The ramikens help hold up the paper liners so they don't fall over and make a mess! (jars were far easier!)

posted by sarahrae on September 1st 2009 at 2:38pm
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I have a couple of questions:

If using a ceramic plate to hold the ramekins, do you put water in it to make a sort of microwave water bath?
Also, is it 2 minutes and then check every 30 seconds, or start checking at 30 seconds, up to 2 minutes?

Thanks for the help, I would like to try that, I like the portion controlling idea....

posted by pinkbites on September 1st 2009 at 11:04pm
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You could make it into a water bath if you want, it might help reduce the pock marks, you'll have to let us know how it works out. I would make sure you're putting in hot water so it doesn't slow the time down any.

2 minutes, then additional time in 30 second intervals if needed.

The mixture does double in size while cooking and then deflates again, so make sure it has somewhere to go and won't spill over the side!

posted by sarahrae on September 1st 2009 at 11:24pm
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Huh. It's totally worth a shot, if it's as good as you suggest.

Such a cute dessert idea for a picnic!

A Bread A Day

posted by eprewitt on September 2nd 2009 at 5:19pm
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I just made these and used a water bath. They're still cooling in the fridge, so I can't yet say how they taste. But, with the water bath they were not pock marked at all. I plan to put some blueberry lime jam on top. Yum!

posted by emilymch on September 6th 2009 at 11:02am
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Checking back in to say that these are DELICIOUS!! The blueberry jam was perfect on top. These are great for summer when I don't want to turn the oven on.

posted by emilymch on September 6th 2009 at 3:11pm
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Glad to know the water bath worked! Thanks emilymch!

posted by sarahrae on September 6th 2009 at 10:28pm
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Here's my 5-Minute Chocolate Mug Cake. YUMMY!

In a large, mircro-safe mug, add:

4 TBS flour
4 TBS sugar
2 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
MIX WELL
1 beaten egg
3 TBS milk
3 TBS vegetable oil
splash vanilla
MIX UNTIL WELL BLENDED
OPT: mix in 3 TBS mini chocolate chips

Microwave for 3 minutes in a 1000 watt microwave.
The batter will rise to the top but should not spill over.

Let cool briefly before eating it out of the mug or turning out cake on to serving plates. This makes enough for 2, with ice cream or whipped cream on the side...or for one very hungry person.

posted by aychihuahua on September 8th 2009 at 11:36am
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