During the recent site maintenance I did it came to my attention that there is a very serious problem with my little recipe blog.

I realized that there aren’t nearly enough dessert recipes here.

And, I can hear some of you out there now . . . “But, you’re dieting. We’re all dieting. Of course you aren’t making many dessert recipes. We’ve all given up cookies and cupcakes and cheesecake. We gave them up in the interest of our flappy arm fat!”

Yes, yes, that’s true. I do hate that flappy arm fat. It’s also true that I’ve had to give up a lot of my favorites. I’m not likely going to blog about those things since I’m not eating them. You guys are so smart. You totally have a good point.This explains the recent absence of potatoes, fried bread and macaroni and cheese from Angie’s Pangies!

Still, there is no reason, nay, there is no excuse for the lack of dessert recipes here. Cuz, readers? I’m so sorry, but, I’ve been eating them. Because you want to know the one thing I have not given up? That’s right, you got it ~ sugar.

So, frankly, I have no idea how this could have possibly happened. It is a well known fact that I adore sweets. When I read a recipe comment that says “This was just right for us, we like things a little less on the sweet side.” I know that means “DOUBLE the sugar” in Angie-speak. Simply put, I cannot diet for any length of time without having a slice of cake or a scoop of ice cream or spraying the whipped cream directly into my mouth . . .

Wait. Scratch that last bit about the whipped cream. That actually never happened.

I’m totally doomed to have flappy arm fat forever, aren’t I?

Well, before we all get into the heavy discussion about diet vs. life style change and moderation vs. elimination I’m just going to go ahead and fix this little problem. I’m just going to have share a few great sweets that’ll be good anytime you have a hankering for sugar.

First up? Cheesecake.

This cheesecake is served in a mug assuring you that as long as you only clean out one mug you won’t overeat. They’re terrible cute, too!

Mocha Espresso Cheesecake Cups
From from Woman’s Day Magazine

Start out by whisking instant coffee into milk over medium heat. Heat slowly to simmering, then remove from the heat and add the chocolate and some Kahlua. Set the milk and chocolate aside for a few minutes to let the chocolate get melty. I used half bittersweet and half semi-sweet chocolate for this batch and it gave it a deep, rich flavor.

While you’re waiting for the chocolate to melt, put cream cheese and sugar in the food processor (you can use a mixer if you do not have a food processor.) Mix until the cream cheese is smooth. Scrape down the sides, then add the eggs and vanilla and mix again.

Transfer the cheese mixture to a medium bowl. Whisk the chocolate mixture together until it is smooth and all the chocolate has melted. Pour this into cream cheese mixture and stir. Look at that – isn’t that the most wonderful looking mixture you’ve ever seen?

Pour even amounts of cheese batter into 6 oven proof coffee cups, but do not fill more than 2/3 full. If you have more than will fit into 6 cups just use an extra cup.

Place the cups in a 9×13 pan and add enough hot water to fill the pan half way up the side of the cups. Bake these in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.

Remove the entire pan from the oven and allow the cups to cool in the water bath until they are cool enough to pick up, but still toasty warm. Put a dollop of whipped cream on top and sprinkle with cinnamon or cocoa.

I used my cute little cookie stencils to sprinkle the cinnamon in a cute holiday pattern. Isn’t that sweet? You know, with an exacto knife and a printer I could have saved myself a few bucks and made my own stencils – and I suppose you could too!

Just ignore the camera lens cap there . . .

If you eat these while they are still warm they are almost like a decadent pot de creme – a custardy type dessert. But, if you put them in the fridge and let them sit overnight the next day you have full on cheesecake flavor. I know because I ate one right after it came out of the oven, and … and then I had another one the next morning. Then I ran on the treadmill for 45 minutes. It was totally worth it.

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