I can’t believe how much I look forward to these posts! I love to cook on my own, don’t get me wrong, but getting to cook with one of your best friends (and my oldest friend for that matter, going on almost 22 years of friendship) and see actual moments of what it is that made us friends to begin with, that’s something extra special! And with that, I present: Mini Turtle Cheesecakes with a Homemade Boozy Carmel/Caramel Sauce!

So I do have a springform pan to make full cheesecakes, but you know what, nothing gets any cuter that mini cheesecakes! And especially since a certain future husband doesn’t like cheesecake, making a full one doesn’t seem like the best way to go. With the minis, I can bring them to work in my little cupcake carrier, which I did, and shared my delicious treats with everyone else! But these turned out SO good and they are light, fluffy, and so creamy! The added caramel sauce was also just the right amount of sweetness, and with that splash of bourbon in there, it elevates the cheesecake to a whole new level of scrumptious!

With regards to the caramel sauce, Alex decided to double the caramel recipe, and also decided to throw in some bourbon (this was an optional part of the recipe). Being the follower that I am, I thought, WHY NOT! So I went to our bar and took a gander at what we had in stock that would lend itself nicely to the sauce that wasn’t too inexpensive, too expensive, and happened to already be opened. Now, I should mention, Frankie is a whiskey fan, particularly bourbon, so a lot of our selection (outside our ever steady Jack Daniel’s for mixing) is pretty fancy, but I didn’t want to use Jack (sorry Jack drinkers) because I felt it was going to smell too boozy, if that makes sense? So I grabbed the bottle of Noah’s Mill that was 3/4 empty anyway and added a solid splash to the sauce. As I was telling Alex all of this, and showed her my bottle, she told me to shut up, ran away from her kitchen, and came back with her own full bottle of Noah’s Mill (for she and her man are also fancy bourbon drinkers as well). This, this is why we are friends. #greatmindsthinkalike

Now, we did notice a few differences between our batters, which might have been due to the equipment used? Mine was a little on the runny side, and I used my stand mixer, plus a hand mixer to smooth out some of those leftover lumps. Alex’s was firmer, and she had used an electric whisk, and at the end, both of ours turned out very similarly in terms of appearance. Weird right? I know we couldn’t taste each others, but both of us found our own cheesecakes to be very moist and creamy! The caramel on top was also incredibly delicious, with the bourbon being helpful in cutting a bit of the natural sweetness of the sauce. I also particularly liked and preferred brown sugar to white sugar in a cheesecake and these recipes were incredibly delicious together! A home run to be sure! I even brought all of mine to work with me, and all of them were gone, gone, gone by lunchtime. If you’re in the mood to bake this weekend, definitely give this combination a try! Until next week’s cooking with friends! — Cooking Maggie

Mini Turtle Cheesecakes from Handle the Heat

6-Minute Small Batch Salted Caramel Sauce from Baker by Nature