rabbit rabbit

I've been meaning to tell you about these for a while. I had planned to give them to you as part of the one-year celebration, but instead you got a May Day meal. I felt pretty good about that.

I wanted to make ice cream this past weekend. Theoretically, at least. The idea of making (and then having) homemade ice cream was pretty appealing. But Saturday rolled around and my day was spent writing things down, my evening with friends. Then Sunday came, feeling more like a Saturday in the three-day-weekend, and C.T., Daniel, and I were sitting in my apartment.

I brought up ice cream, but then didn't really feel like making it. "Guys," I said, "I don't know what I'm going to bake for my blog."

But then! Inspiration! What better for a Memorial Day celebration than cheesecake? (Honestly, what situation is not improved by cheesecake?) So we took a little field trip to get caffeine (some of us may be addicted) and pick up the ingredients I didn't already have.

I did already have the tiny mason jars, mostly because a couple months ago Daniel sent me a link to one-serving pies in half-pint jars. Clearly I needed to make one-serving cheesecakes. Like I said, what situation is not improved by cheesecake? What is particularly great about the mason jar servings is that you can freeze them and bring them out whenever you want. It's kind of perfect for someone who, oh, I don't know, usually bakes in fairly small quantities, usually for herself and her friends.

And if I may brag a little, these little cheesecakes are good enough to inspire conversations about taking them to market. They hit just the right spot on a hot and humid summer day.



Mason Jar Cheesecake

for the crust
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp melted butter

for the filling
16 oz cream cheese, room temp.
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream, room temp.
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg

special equipment
4 half-pint mason jars, washed

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and the melted butter. Press the mixture into the bottom of the mason jars. Place the mason jars on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

While the crust is baking, beat the cream cheese and sugar together until blended. Then add in the sugar, flour, and vanilla. Next beat in the sour cream. (I did all this with a wooden spoon and there were still some chunks. This is okay! You just wind up with a more rustic cheesecake. It's still delicious.) Finally mix in the egg until blended. Pour into the mason jars, over the now-baked crust.

Put the mason jars (on baking sheet) back into the oven for about 40 more minutes. When done, let cool for about ten minutes and then carefully screw on the lids to the mason jars. You can now freeze them, if you're not going to eat them soon, or just refrigerate overnight.