Baileys: Socially Acceptable after Saint Patrick's

While Saint Patrick's Day might have passed, I'm not done celebrating it because I'm still pretending to be Irish and consuming all of the Baileys. This can be a bit difficult since I don't drink anything other than a glass of white wine every Friday (how Catholic of me), so I tend to get pretty creative with my baked goods. If I can turn anything into a boozy dessert concoction that's relatively low-cal, the guilt regarding empty calories and alcohol melts away (much like my cognitive motor functions after more than one glass of wine). If you're supposed to grow out of a sweet tooth, no one told me. So I'll continue to party on, Saint Patrick's Day style, with this week's marvelous recipe: a cheesecake. But not just any cheesecake. A Baileys Salted Carmel cheesecake. And not just any Baileys Salted Caramel cheesecake. But mini Baileys Salted Caramel cheesecakes. Individual little servings of boozy perfection. Because at the end of the day, aren't we always celebrating something? It may not be Saint Patrick's Day. Maybe you're celebrating a birthday. An anniversary. The sheer fact you made it through the day without throat punching anyone (this is typically why I reward myself with dessert). Whatever the reason, it's always dessert season.

Small, adorable, and full of Baileys. Just like me.

These tasty little handheld cheesecakes are positively simple to make, and, wait for it...under 250 calories. I made 20 mini cheesecakes at 214 calories a piece. Technically, you could eat two and still be eating fewer calories than a slice of any other kind of regular cheesecake. I am nothing if not steadfast in my conviction to make dessert taste amazing and not require an extra hour of Jillian Michaels workouts. In the case of these cheesecakes though, the suffering would be totally worth it. These beauties are beyond decadent. I thought I'd have a hard time not eating them five at a time, but they are super rich, silky, and one will satisfy your cheesecake and/or Salted Caramel Baileys lust (even if you are extremely Irish). I found and adapted this recipe to fit a cupcake pan...because seriously, who has four mini spring form pans? I don't even have one regular-sized spring form pan. Rich people and cheesecake enthusiasts. Geesh.

Wait, there's definitely more.

I broke the instruction portion of this blog into three parts: crust, filling, and ganache. Let me take you on a magical journey with my words, people. To make the crust, you'll need:

• 10 low fat graham crackers (I used cinnamon...it was delightful). Pulverize these to a fine crumb with a food processor or the tried and true plastic bag/rolling pin combo
• 2 TBS cocoa powder
•  3 TBS Swerve granular sugar replacement (there's zero cooling effect with this type of Swerve, unlike the confectioner's variety)
• 3 TBS butter, melted

I made the crusts in my mini food processor (rich people, geesh). I turned the graham crackers into a fine pulp (power!!) and then added in the cocoa and Swerve, giving a good mix. I finished off by adding in the melted butter until the crust mixture was completely wet.

The color of these crusts makes me wish I could tan. Not Irish, just super pale.

Preheat your oven to 350 and line two muffin tins with 20 cupcake liners. Take about 1.5-2 TBS of the crust and dump into each liner. I used a shot glass (fitting) to smoosh the crust down and even it out. Bake your crusts for 8-10 minutes until tanned but not burnt (the exact opposite of what happens to my skin after 8-10 minutes in the sun). Let these rest on a cooling rack and lower your oven temp to 325.

Mmm, Baileys. I'm not sure how you're supposed to drink it since I hate coffee, but boy do I love eating it!

To make the filling, you need:

• 3-8 ounce packages of 1/3 fat cream cheese
• 3/4 cup granular Swerve
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup light sour cream
• 1/4 cup Salted Caramel Baileys (I promise, we'll add more booze in phase three)

Start by mixing the cream cheese and sugar together until fluffy. Add in each egg, one at a time, blending well between each addition. I scraped the bowl between each. Then add in the vanilla, sour cream, and sweet, sweet boozy goodness. Mix well. I used a tablespoon to scoop about 3 tablespoons of filling into each crust cup.

Can you guess which pan was purchased at Walmart? Bet you can...

 Fill most of the way full and smooth out the batter a bit with the back of the tablespoon. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until the tops are set but not tanned (I have no reference to my paleness here. Just don't burn the cheesecakes).

I need a foundation in this shade. Seriously.

Let your cooked cheesecakes cool on a cooling rack COMPLETELY before even thinking about the ganache. Pour yourself a glass? of Baileys and whatever Baileys goes with when it isn't in food, savor, bide your time, sing karaoke, whatever. Just don't touch these until they're room temp. Leave them in the muffin tins!

As promised: more Baileys.

Finally, take 1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate chips, and set aside. Bring 1/2 cup of Baileys to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and whisk in the chocolate chips until completely smooth. Don't burn your chocolate. Take it off the burner or face the consequences of bitter, bumpy chocolate. Boo. Not cool.

Chocolate, like my writing, should be smooth. Or something close to that.

Take a regular spoon, dollop one heap on top of your completely cooled (seriously, have I driven this point home?) cheesecake, and spread out to form a nice thin layer of ganache. Repeat for the remaining cheesecakes.

And now, we wait.

Waiting is, quite frankly, always the hardest part of baking anything. I actually put my ganached cheesecakes (still in the muffin tin) into the fridge to set overnight. The ganache sets up quite nicely, with just a minimal amount of tackiness to it, so don't stack these when you store them. I placed mine into two ziplock baggies and laid flat in the fridge to keep. One of those ziplock baggies went to work with me, 1. Because it's spring break, and at museum, you need to imbibe booze to survive travel seasons somehow. And 2. Because I would definitely eat all 20 of these without any form of guilt. I was saving myself from...myself.

You can see why that was necessary.

I enjoyed these immensely. My biggest complaints about cheesecakes are there usually aren't enough servings (problem solved) and that I can't just dig in and eat it with my hands (this problem occurs more frequently than you'd think). By revolutionizing cheesecakes to mini handheld forms loaded with tons of booze, I'm giving the Cheesecake Factory a run for its money. These really are delicious. The cheesecake filling is light with a nice hint of Baileys and caramel, the crust boasts excellent texture and smooth flavoring, and the piece de resistance--the ganache--is to die for. It balances rich chocolate and a bite of Baileys beautifully. I was silent for a full two minutes after I finished eating one because I wanted my taste buds to remain locked in flavor heaven. Irish or not, these are a dessert you have to experience, any time of the year. Or day for that matter. You can totally have Baileys for breakfast. In coffee. Or with cheesecake muffins. Dream big. 'Til next time, my fellow eaters!