Sunday, May 19, 2013

CROCK POT CHEESECAKE IN A JAR


I wanted to try something different this week so I went for the cheesecake in a jar in the crock pot. Now the only cheesecake I have ever made was a no bake one with cool whip and cream cheese which is awfully good! It took only 5 minutes to make and 4 hours to set up in the refrigerator.  So the recipe I used came from crockpotrecipeexchange.com. It seemed simple enough and I happened to have 6  8 oz canning jars that actually fit in my oval 6.5 quart crock pot. So I followed the directions to a tee, even measuring out exactly how much to put in each jar. I also took pictures at every step in case I wanted to post them. Everything was going along well until about an hour into the cooking process when something went terribly wrong. My cheesecakes no longer matched the cheesecakes in the pictures posted on the website. So I went back to the recipe and still couldn't figure out what went wrong. I finally turned off my crock pot after an hour and thirty minutes. I let them cool for a little while, and then removed them from the crock pot to finish cooling. They still didn't look like the pictures. I finally gave up and put them in the refrigerator overnight. Then the next day I showed my pictures to some friends of mine and they burst out laughing they looked so bad. But later after dinner they were all willing to try them. So it goes that the flavor was good, the crust was great, and the texture was thick and creamy like a New York cheesecake. They all agreed that it would be worth trying again maybe with different canning jars or less filling in each one. I still haven’t figured it out yet. So they weren't a total failure! I will go ahead and post the ingredients but please go to the crockpotrecipeexchange.com for the pictures. I will go ahead just for a good laugh post my picture.

Ok here is their picture.

Here is my picture.


INGREDIENTS:
6   8 oz. heat proof canning jars
For the crust
 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup of butter
4 tablespoons of melted butter
Mix ingredients together and distribute evenly in the 6 jars. Then take a spoon and press the mixture firmly in the bottom and sides of the jar.

The filling
2   8 oz. packages of cream cheese at room temperature
1     14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
2   eggs, at room temperature
1   ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
Zest of one lemon

Then  heat  2 -4 cups of water in the microwave. Turn your crock pot on high to preheat. In a large bowl mix the cream cheese with a mixer until fluffy. Slowly add the condensed milk. Then add the eggs one at a time, and then add the vanilla extract and lemon zest and stir well. Now here is where the recipe stressed filling the jars with the same amount of filling so they would all cook evenly. Place the jars in the crock pot and then carefully pour in the hot water until it reaches ½ to ¾ way up the jars. Cover and cook on high for 1-2 hours.You want to look for the filling to be firm and not jiggly in the center.This is where crock pots cook at a different rate. Sometimes it will only take 60 - 75 minutes to cook. Then let them cool. As they cool they should pull away from the side of the jar, unlike mine which poured over the jar. Then when they are completely cooled put the lids on and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Don’t get in a hurry to eat them. The 4 hours gives the flavors a chance to come through and mix together. Hope your turns out prettier than mine. I will be trying this again soon.




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