Strawberry Orange Cheesecake Cupcakes

A few weeks ago I promised my co-worker that I would bring cheesecake into work with me after torturing him for hours with pictures of various types of cheesecakes.  It also happened to be my friend Mike's belated birthday (although I didn't know it at the time).  I was hoping to copy my grandmother's mini cheesecake recipe that she makes with Nilla Wafers as the crust, but I soon realized I had a problem.  When I was at the store I had brought everything for the cheesecakes except mini cupcake wrappers and I figured that I couldn't just make the cheesecake in the trays and hope that they came out.  So I decided to make full size cheesecake cupcakes.  

  The original recipe is a Paula Deen recipe and there isn't any butter in it, just butter extract.  However, I decided since I wanted it to taste more Spring-like, I was going to add orange extract, some lemon juice and lemon zest.  Since the Nilla wafer wasn't quite big enough to cover the entire bottom of the cupcake wrapper, I put one Nilla wafer in the bottom and then proceeded to crumble other Nilla wafers around it, until the entire bottom was covered by both the cookie and the crumbs.  Turns out, it's a great idea and makes a nice crust.  Give this recipe a try for a delicious Easter/Spring treat!  They were a huge hit at work and they look very nice on a plate lined up to serve.  

Ingredients 

2 pkgs of cream cheese softened 

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp orange extract 

half a lemon of lemon juice 

half a lemon of lemon zest 

2 eggs 

12 Nilla wafers plus more for crumbling, I think I crumbed 6/7 more wafers (half a wafer per cupcake tin in addition to the one wafer 

10 whole strawberries diced 

1 tbsp of sugar 

First, dice the strawberries into small pieces and put into a bowl.  Sprinkle sugar over the diced berries and let them sit.  Overnight would be best, but if you don't have time, let them sit while these cheesecakes are made and cool and then top the cheesecakes with just the berries and a small amount of juice. 

Next, mix the softened cream cheese with the sugar and beat until fluffy.  Slowly add the eggs one at a time, then add the orange extract, the lemon juice, and the lemon zest.  The batter will be pretty loose.  In the meantime, add a Nilla wafer to each cupcake holder.  There will be space around the edge of each cookie, take another Nilla wafer, break it in half and crumble the half of the wafer into the space around the edges, creating a full crust of the cheesecake.  When this has been done to all cupcake holders, pour the cheesecake on top of the crust about 3/4 of the way to the top. 

Bake the cheesecakes in the oven for 20 minutes on 350 degrees.  Remove from the oven and let cool.  The tops of the cheesecakes will sink a bit, but don't panic, that's a perfect place for the strawberries to be put.  When the cupcakes are completely cool, add the strawberries and bit of strawberry juice.  Serve immediately or put in the refrigerator to chill.