Feast on the Cheap

Entertaining Recipes for the Budget Gourmet

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Strawberry Cheesecake Cups

by 39 Comments

Mariel here. I spent the past weekend down in Asheville, NC celebrating my best friend’s wedding. I served as her (very pregnant) matron of honor and although I moved a little more slowly than usual, I managed to keep pace with the whirring, purring wedding machine. She was hand’s down one of the calmest brides I’ve ever seen – you may know your friend like the back of your hand but you can never guess how she’s gonna handle her big day. The wedding went off without a hitch – including my speech, which I really sweated over – and we were all exhausted on Sunday, just as it’s supposed to be. In the midst of all the prenuptial hullabaloo and packing for our upcoming move – on Memorial Day weekend, no less – I had very little time to do more than order takeout. Thankfully, for this month’s edition of Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned the infinitely lovable blog, Lick the Spoon, which is brimming with easy-as-pie desserts and treats. The following represents one such recipe and these little “cheescake” cups take a mere 20 minutes to divine and zero actual cooking. Plus they’re far healthier than the real deal so I was able to indulge without risking another returned bridesmaid dress. Thanks to my burgeoning belly, I had to return FOUR dresses before landing on a winner for my buddy’s big day. TGI-J.Crew customer service…

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Strawberry Cheesecake Cups Adapted from Lick the Spoon

Ingredients: ½-cup low-fat cream cheese, room temp – $1.69 ~¼-cup lemon juice – stock 2 teaspoon lemon zest – $0.25 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar – stock 12 strawberries, washed, dried and hulled – $2.99 ½-cup semi-sweet chocolate chips – $3.29 1 graham cracker biscuit, ground/crushed – $3.89 Grand total assuming well-stocked kitchen: $12.11 Directions: 1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, lemon zest and sugar. Gradually add in lemon juice until you reach a smooth consistency. 2. Carve wells into each of the hulled strawberries, deep enough to accommodate plenty of cream cheese filling. Dry the berries well so the melted chocolate will stick. 3. Use a small spoon (like a demi-tasse) to fill each of the strawberries with the cream cheese mixture. 4. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 15 second intervals to avoid burning. Once smooth, dip the ends of each berry into the chocolate and place on parchment paper to set. 5. Crush the graham cracker in a food processor or using a mallet (or your hands) and sprinkle the crumbles on top of the cream cheese mixture (or the chocolate, your choice!). Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve (note, if you do refrigerate and wait to serve, the cream cheese will take on a pinkish tint, but they’re still very pretty)

Comments

  3. ah they are so cute! glad you found an easy one on my blog:) good luck with the pregnancy, loved your comment about returning the dresses he he I know that feeling well!

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  13. If I didn’t know this was an SRC recipe I would have figured you for it anyways. Who could feel guilty about cheesecake when it’s stuffed inside a strawberry?

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  16. Sound like life is keeping you busy! It’s always fun to have a quick tasty treat. These look delicious, strawberries are perfect right now.
    Good luck on your move and upcoming addition.

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  23. I’ve eaten these and they are delicious. I love the appetizer feel of them, perfect for a party. Great pick. Hang in there through the last little bit, the end is always hard! I felt like a beached whale somedays!

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  27. Perhaps it was the title of your blog, “Feast on the Cheap” combined with my not-to-the-hoarder-but-way-more-than-a-two-person-household needs in a year pantry/freezer, the desire to use up, reduce, recycle, and reuse, but, alas, I’m an inveterate science geek turned cook-ie (kook-ie???) as my aptitude for reading is greater than that for sophisticated laminated dough. Born on LI with short remembrances of Levittown or Wantagh, we mostly lived in EastHampton and, to escape, Manhattan’s upper east side. Love the idea of this blog; with a well-stocked pantry to which I include freezer/refrig staples, wicked good food can be easily prepared. Your strawberry cheesecake post cost was a wee bit lower in our house: neighbors brought 6 boxes of strawberries from the stand down our street (drool, lucky and blessed), and the remainder were all in our house! Thank you and your mom for such an inspiring blog. Though definitely a work in progress, the pantry contents are strewed around on the kitchen table, a six foot table, and partially itemized. Need to throw out spices and evaluate the rest. The freezer inventory was today: amazingly we’ve eaten all our frozen whole chickens, shredded chicken, 4-packs of thighs, legs, and breasts. Fortunately for hubby there are several large thick ribeye/delmonico steaks as well as 3 and 4 bone cradled prime ribs. Oh, and some shrimp and bits of other seafood. Aside from the farmers market and dairy (love me some greek yogurt, Kefir, and NF milk, and cheese) plus the spice refurbishing, and I’m good for, coservatively 2 years. That includes entertaining. Please keep up the great posts as well as other hints from your daily/monthly lives. Though readers are at many different places in their lives, work, and families, we all learn from your easy, gracious style. The best meals are anything someone is thoughtful enough to make, be it a glass of milk, an apple and jar of pb, tomato soup and grilled cheese (more serious feelings, lol), homemade cookies for a guy, “drop over–we’ll bbq something. It’s the concept of sharing with future generations absorbing anything and everything we say and do that bodes well in their future lives. If my mum could see the 11 yr old neighbor make pate au choux for cream puffs, then running over the next day for the other lesson: apple cinnamon popovers. Though bright beyond her years, intelligent and articulate, excellent dancer, her parental cooking influences have been German. Telling stories of my mum’s youth in England and France with the traditions of a “joint of meat” with yorkshire pudding/popovers, profiteroles in France with wee pitcher of warm chocolate sauce were captivating. Totally rewarding as I had boys who will make cheesecakes themselves but relegate the remainder of preparing and CLEANING to their wives. All, that is, except the MAN-GRILL. Before marriage, each with a crockpot and a man-grill could make full meals. This lovely blog will be passed down to my lovely daughters-in-law. Tis a shame I’m in California while they reside near Charlotte, NC. I spend a few months there each year, and if babies are on the horizon, the modest place we purchased (shhh, hubby, you do not have to stay: we’re both adults) has a wee kitchen which will be a great new challenge to stock. There are few bloggers with whom I’d love to have a cup of coffee or lunch: you two are on the short list. Thanks!

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  33. I’m slow and just catching up on my secret recipe club posts. These are absolutely adorable! I saw them and thought that they would be perfect for a shower or for a one bite dessert for when I’m on WW!

    Reply

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