Sweet Potato Cheesecake Tarts with Pecan Crusts

*The Salisbury steak is about to hit the fan around here folks and I just thought I'd warn you if you have a pacemaker, poor sense of humor, or are a Halloween kill-joy to turn the channel now.  It's about to go dark around here after this post and the Evil Cookie Queen with be taking over with Halloween hijinks until the big day of doom arrives.*

Until that darkness rains down upon us let's enjoy a tranquil moment, complete with a deep breath of crisp fall air. In my part of California we don't experience fall we have mostly warm afternoons leading to somewhat cool evenings.  During this time of year I like to pretend I'm surrounded by acres of trees sporting their fall color and wearing a cable sweater instead of shorts and sandals.

I also love to mix it up with fall desserts, not to be the most hated blogger in the land; but the avalanche of pumpkin recipes I've been seeing day in and day out already has me on overload.  I like pumpkin too and will be baking with it soon enough, but I just want to ease a little into fall before going all out pumpkin.

A few years back I made these Sweet Potato Cheesecake Tarts for a contest and my mom has been asking for them ever since.  I had no idea where the original recipe went, so I sat down and made them again and wrote the recipe up.  My mom was very happy with her surprise delivery I may add.

Sweet Potato Cheesecake Tarts with Pecan Crusts

Pecan Crust:
1/2 cup pecans, ground
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3-4 tablespoons ice water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Sweet Potato Cheesecake Filling:
3/4 cup mashed sweet potato
1 large egg
1/3 cup granulated sugar
5 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves
Pinch salt

Crumble:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1)  Make the crust first.  Add the pecans, flour, light brown sugar, butter, and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times.  Slowly add the water one tablespoon at a time through the top of the food processor and pulse until the crust comes together.  Or you can mix the crust in a bowl using a pastry cutter.

2)  Turn the dough out onto a floured board and roll until 1/4-inch thick.  Cut out rounds with a 2-inch fluted (or just round) cutter and place the rounds into a 24-cup mini muffin pan sprayed with no-stick spray.  Push each round down with your finger and place the dough in the fridge until needed.

3)  To the bowl of a food processor add sweet potato, egg, sugar, cream cheese, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt and pulse until well mixed.  Or mix in a bowl with a whisk.  Set aside.

*I like to cook the sweet potatoes in the microwave to make things easier.

4)  In a small bowl mix together flour, light brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and butter and mix until crumbly.

5)  Fill each crust with cheesecake batter until full and then divide the crumble topping over the tarts.

6) Bake in 350 degree F oven for 17 minutes.  Let cool.

Makes 24 mini tarts.

Enjoy,

Gina

Cherry-Balsamic Cheesecake Bars and Speed Blogging

Today is my Sister-In-Law's birthday and I wanted to bring a dessert with me to a dinner for her tonight, so I headed to the kitchen this afternoon and whipped up these Cherry-Balsamic Cheesecake bars.

Crust:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt (I prefer Kosher, but we all have our issues)

Cheesecake Filling:
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or extract

Balsamic-Cherry Topping:
10 ounces cherries, pitted
4 ounces sugar or about 1/2 cup
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1.  Add cherries, sugar, and vinegar to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil on medium-high heat.  Stir often and let boil for 13-15 minutes until the topping is starting to thicken.

2.  Add butter, granulated sugar, flour ,and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until just starting to combine.  You can use a bowl and cut the butter in with a pastry blender if you don't have a processor.

3.  Spray a 9" x 13" pan with no-stick spray, put crust in and pat down.  Bake for 15 minutes.  I'm always bringing desserts here and there and I have to tell you just how excited I was to spot this nice disposable one in the market.

4.  Add cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, egg, flour, and vanilla to the bowl of a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth.

5.  Pour the cheesecake over the warm crust (straight out of the oven is a little too hot).  Spread to the edges.

6.  Place dollops of the cherry topping every couple of inches over the top of the cheesecake.  I had a hard time with swirls before, but this time I poked the cherries a bit under the surface before swirling and had a better result.

7.  Bake for 25-28 minutes until the cheesecake is set.  Chill, because eating warm cheesecake is reserved for days when you are on the verge of hurting someone.

Do you ever have one of those weeks where you feel like every time you sit down you have to get back up? Well I've been having one of those weeks for the last few months (possibly years, but I do tend to be in denial from time to time).

I keep thinking maybe there is a better way to manage everything I have going on these days, perhaps speed blogging.  I could just hurl pictures of food at you every few hours and then let the chips fall where they may (although there is that whole law of gravity nonsense).

Say a prayer that these bars are cool before I have to run out of the house again.  (Too late, gotta run Hot Dog Dude is glaring at me it's time to go.)

Gina