Pink Fluted Cups

I know, I know I have promised these little beauties for several months now and well here ya go!  These little cupcakes were more like a small dessert than a cupcake.  I am sure some of you chef's out there could plate them quite nicely.  All I can say is wow I made THAT!  They taste so good and are pretty easy to make.

Baked Cheesecakes with Cherry Pie Filling
adapted from 500 Cupcakes


for 12 cupcakes


1 cup graham cracker crumbs
5 table spoons sweet butter melted
2 cups ricotta cheese
2 cups cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
3 eggs
1 can cherry pie filling


preheat oven to 325
line your muffin pan with liners
put the cracker crumbs into a medium bowl and stir in the butter.  spoon the crumbs into the lined cups.  


now here is a trick for ya, use a 1/4 measuring cup to press the crumbs firmly into the bottom of the cups.  this was a wonderful timesaver and worked like a charm 
chill until set

in a large bowl, beat the ricotta until smooth, (this takes a while and I did not beat it long enough so my cake was a bit gritty, remember take your time with this step)  add the cream cheese, vanilla and sugar blending until smooth,  I choose to cut the cream cheese up into one inch pieces and add it gradually to the mixture.  I think it helped a bit with the texture.  slowly add the eggs blend them well after each addition.  spoon them into cups

bake for 25 minutes.  remove pan form the oven and cool for 5 minutes then remove the cupcakes and cool on rack (this is tricky too, be careful when you remove them from the pan)




chill until ready to serve.  open the can-o-cherries and top each cake
plate with or with out the wrapper.