Parve Cheesecake Gems

Recipe By Estee Kafra

Cooking and Prep: 55 m
Serves: 25
Contains:

Preference: Parve
Difficulty: Medium
Occasion: Purim , Shavuot , Chanukah
Diet: Vegetarian
Source: Family Table by Mishpacha Magazine

I first saw these mini cakes at my friend Rina’s party. She had them nicely lined up on Lucite hot-pink trays. The effect was stunning, and they tasted delicious as well.

Ingredients (9)

Crumb Mixture

2 and 1/2 cups cookie crumbs (I recommend using Ostreicher lemon-flavored cookies. An 8-oz. (225-g.) bag makes 2 and 1/2 cups of crumbs. If unavailable, use graham crackers.)
1 cube Dorot Gardens Frozen Ginger or 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger

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Dorot Gardens Frozen Ginger
1/2 cup melted margarine or butter

Cheese Filling

2 8-oz. (225-g.) containers non-dairy cream cheese (for a dairy version, use regular cream cheese)
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon Gefen Vanilla Extract

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Gefen Pure Vanilla Extract
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 can Gefen Cherry Pie Filling

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Gefen Cherry Pie Filling

Start Cooking

Make the Cheesecake Gems

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).
Combine all the ingredients for the crumb mixture and press into the bottom of nonstick mini muffin tins. Bake for 10 minutes and then cool to room temperature.
Mix all the ingredients for cheese filling, except for the pie filling, and spoon into muffin tins. Bake for about 15 minutes or until set. Cool and remove from pan, cutting around the edges if necessary.
Meanwhile, spoon cherry pie filling into a strainer. Use a spoon to gently discard as much of the “jelly” as possible, being careful not to break the cherries. Spoon about two to three cherries onto the center of each mini cheesecake. Serve chilled.