Blackberry Cheesecake Pots (Pots de Gateau au Fromage?)

The title is proof that I don't speak french.

The dessert, however, is proof that I love cheesecake. The problem with cheesecake, at least for me, is the time and quantity. Now, while I feel like I could eat a cheesecake by myself, this is not a feat to which I aspire. Frankly, I can't remember an event that's warranted baking an entire cheesecake anyway. That's where these delightful little pots come in. Single serving, cheesecake filling goodness. I only wish I had a nice crunchy biscotti or even a graham cracker to enjoy with these guys.

Blackberry Cheesecake Pots

8oz cream cheese (use light if you must, but for the love of all that is good, avoid fat-free)
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla

1 pint blackberries, washed, dried, and divided

In the bowl of a mixer--a mixer just like my brand new professional Kitchen Aid maybe???--break up the cream cheese and beat until creamy and some air has been incorporated into it. Add 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 tbsp cream, vanilla, and beat on medium high until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is lightened.

In another bowl beat the remaining 1/4 cup of cream until slightly thick. Add 1 tbsp of sugar and beat until soft peaks have formed. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. The whipped cream may not be fully incorporated into the cream cheese. Add most of the blackberries (I reserved about 8 for garnishes), and mix on medium speed until the berries are broken up and the mixture is uniform.

Spoon into ramekins or any other fun single-serving dish and refrigerate to allow it to firm up. Garnish with remaining blackberries. Done! This is super fast and incredibly easy to make. It's decadent and definitely satisfies that cheesecake urge.



Now to see how I can make them a little lower in the fat department...

Other things I've tried lately...

• I haven't updated in a bit, and this is my first post from my new apartment in Dayton. We're still unpacking everything. Ha. But I have cooked a bit and definitely have some fun things I want to mention.

• Alton Brown's Pizza Pizzas dough is AMAZING and I will be using it again. I owe my friend Anne a debt of gratitude for teaching me how to make delicious pizza.

• Kale chips... they've been around the blogosphere for a while and, given my penchant for trying healthy foods, I thought I'd give a recipe a whirl--two whirls in fact. The results of the first attempt were great. I simply tossed some kale with a little garlic infused olive oil, salt, pepper, hungarian spicy paprika, and baked them until they were dry. The results were great and tasty, though the chips don't withstand the test of time well. The second attempt was just disappointing, but I think I used a different, inferior variety of kale. I'll work on this more in the future.