Individual Chocolate Orange Cheesecakes

Happy Mother's Day! Are you having a get together and looking for an easy but eye-catching desert? Try these little cuties!

Makes 12 individual cakes

Active Time:35 min
Start to Finish:45 min

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing muffin cups
12 chocolate wafers such as Nabisco Famous (1/2 cup)
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
4 oz cream cheese, softened
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest
1/2 cup well-chilled heavy cream

Special equipment:
a nonstick mini-muffin pan with 12 (1/8-cup) muffin cups

Garnish:
bittersweet chocolate shavings (made with a vegetable peeler)

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350° F. Butter muffin cups.
• Grind wafers to a fine powder in a food processor.
• Mix together wafer crumbs, 2 tablespoons butter, and 2 tablespoons brown sugar in a bowl with a rubber spatula until combined well. Divide crumbs amongst the muffin cups, then firmly press onto bottom and a little up side of each cup with your fingertips or with bottom of an 1/8-cup measure by twisting measure.
• Bake 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack and cool in muffin pan 10 minutes. Gently rotate crusts with your fingertips to loosen and turn out onto rack.
  
• Beat together cream cheese, zest, and remaining brown sugar (3 tablespoons plus 1/3 teaspoon ) with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until fluffy.
• Beat cream in another bowl with cleaned beaters until it just holds stiff peaks.
• Stir about one third of whipped cream into cream cheese mixture to lighten, then gently fold in remaining whipped cream until just combined
• Mound filling into crusts with a spoon (or pipe filling into crusts with a pastry bag), garnish with bittersweet chocolate shavings and chill until ready to serve.

Easy, delicious and beautiful! What more could you ask for?!

I'm driving home from my fun weekend in Central Texas today. What about you? What are your Mother's Day plans?