Key lime cheesecake

Key lime pie is one of my favorite foods, but I felt like making a cheesecake this week.  So, I combined the two and made key lime cheesecake.

Citrus is still in season, and the grocery stores are full of it.  Although this recipe uses key lime juice from a bottle, there is still fresh lime zest involved.

I like a graham cracker crust with my key lime desserts.  The warmth of the graham sets off the tartness of the filling nicely. 

Graham cracker crumbs + hot butter = crust.

I like to make miniature food.  This is the crust for my mini cheesecakes before being pressed into the bottom of the pan.

Filling ingredients: cream cheese, eggs, white sugar, lime zest a bit of corn starch.  *I made a mistake here and forgot to whip my cream cheese ahead of time....don't do that.

Baked cheesecakes out of the oven. 

Finished product.  I added a strawberry as a garnish. I would have made whipped cream had I had any heavy cream.  

   Although these cheesecakes didn't turn out perfect, they were still tasty.  I made the mistake of beating mine too much, which incorporated too much air into the mixture.  This caused tiny little air bubbles throughout the cheesecake. 

Things I learned about making cheesecake:

1.  Don't over beat the mixture.

2. Make sure your cream cheese is completely softened.

3. Why did I not have whipped cream ingredients?

4.  Cool slowly, and refrigerate overnight.

Next time I make the key lime cheesecakes, I might try added some almonds into the crust for a bit of nuttiness. 

   
    Perhaps it was a different ingredients, but the bourbon pumpkin mini cheesecakes I made for Thanksgiving turned out a lot better than this batch.

Mini bourbon pumpkin cheesecakes I made for Thanksgiving.

I think that this may start a series of different flavors of mini cheesecakes, using seasonal ingredients for me.  I really enjoy making cheesecakes and every one else really likes to eat them.