Mini Mango Cheesecakes

I was racking my brain, trying to come up with a delicious nibbly bit for my Mom's annual Easter Egg party.  While perusing my favourite section of the grocery store - PRODUCE!!!! I found my inspiration.  Mango cheesecake.  Since it's a party and I want everyone to have a sample, I decided to make miniature cheesecakes instead.  This recipe yields a lot of batter... enough to make near 60 of the miniatures or if you use regular muffin tins, you'll get around 20 servings. 

Ingredients:

1-1/2 C. graham cracker crumbs

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

2 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp melted butter

2 packages of cream cheese (250g) - I used PC Brand's Blue Menu

3/4 C. granulated sugar

2 Tbsp flour

1/8 tsp salt

3 large eggs

1/2 C. sweetened mango puree - found near the canned peaches 

juice of 2 small limes

1 Tbsp vanilla

2 Tbsp plain lowfat yogurt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F or 180 C

Line muffin tins with paper liners.  Combine graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar and melted butter.  Press mixture firmly into the bottom of each liner.

In a large bowl, whip the cream cheese with an electric mixer, until light and fluffy.  Add the flour, sugar, salt and eggs, continuing to beat the mixture and scraping the sides of the bowl until there are no more lumps.  Add the mango puree, lime juice, vanilla and yogurt, and continue to mix until all ingredients are combined.

Pour the batter on top of the graham cracker crust - I used a tablespoon to measure, and for the miniature muffin tins, 1 tablespoon of batter filled each liner.  For regular sized muffin tins, use 3 tablespoons of batter for each liner.  

Place in the oven and bake as follows:

The miniature muffin tin version needs 15 minutes in the oven; the regular sized muffin tin version needs 20 minutes.  Once the time is up, remove from the oven and let cool, placing in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or even best, overnight.

To serve, top each cheesecake with some leftover mango puree and a few pieces of fresh mango.

Un-Rocky Road Brownies

Okay, so I don't like nuts in my brownies, which makes these ones un-rocky road style with the marshmallows on top, but you could undo the "un" part of it by adding your choice of nuts to the batter. Also, a girl's gotta use convenience foods sometimes when she cooks or bakes... this one's made with a store-bought brownie mix and chocolate icing. For an even more decadent treat, serve while still warm with a large scoop of your favourite ice cream.

Ingredients:
1 box of brownie mix + ingredients as shown on box
1 package of white mini marshmallows
4 T. of chocolate icing, warmed in microwave until runny.

Directions:
Bake brownies according to the package directions. Once baked, cover the top of the brownie with as many mini marshmallows as you like (I like to cover it completely with no brownie showing) and broil until the marshmallows are puffy and nicely browned. Remove from oven and set aside on a cooling rack. In a small microwave-proof bowl, warm the chocolate icing and then drizzle over the top of the marshmallows. The icing will seep into the brownie layer a bit, but the majority will stay on top of the marshmallows and will firm up as the brownies cool. Once cooled, cut into bars.