Canada’s 150th birthday is almost here! As a Canadian company that works with Canadian farmers, we could not be more excited and proud to be a part of this awesome country. In celebration we decided to make maple cheesecake with a graham and LiberTerre pork jowl crust.
What is pork jowl? It’s possible you’ve never heard of it because bacon has your heart, but it is definitely a tasty alternative. Pork jowl comes from the neck of the pig, and is highly marbled and sweeter in taste than bacon. It makes a great substitute for any of your bacon recipes, and we love it. If you’re not ready to try pork jowl in a baked good, however, we’re willing to forgive. You can substitute bacon in this recipe, but make sure you pick up some pork jowl from your closest T&T Supermarket!
So what are you waiting for? Make these and bring them to a fun Canada Day celebration near you! Click here to find an awesome list of activities.
Bonus: our pigs are raised by multiple family farmers in Alberta, without antibiotics or added hormones and are grain fed with no animal by-products. That’s really a taste you can trust!
LiberTerre Canada 150 Mini Cheesecakes
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 23 minutes
Total Time: about an hour, plus cooling time if you can restrain yourself
Serves: 12
Ingredients
Crust
1 piece LiberTerre pork jowl
9 graham crackers or 1 c graham crumbs
2 tbsp butter, melted
Filling
1 ½ 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, room temperature
¼ c brown sugar
½ c maple syrup
2 tbsp flour
½ tsp vanilla
pinch cinnamon (optional)
1 egg
Directions
- Preparation
Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease your muffin tin.
- Cut & Fry
Cut up your pork jowl into small pieces and fry on medium heat until it’s cooked, about 5 minutes. I then cut the pork jowl up as small as I possibly could, but if you have a food processor that would make your life easier.
- Grind
Grind up your graham crackers, either in a bag crushing them with a rolling pin, in your food processor, or just go for the crumbs. When you have your crumb consistency, mix it in a bowl with the pork jowl and butter. Add a little more melted butter if the mixture doesn’t stick together when you press it flat.
- Shape & Bake
Put about one heaping tablespoon of your graham mixture into each individual cup. I pressed it down to hold the shape with the bottom of a glass. Bake this for about five minutes.
Remove from the heat and set your oven to 325°F.
- Mix
With an electric mixer, beat your room temperature cream cheese, and then mix it with the sugar until everything is smooth. Next add the maple syrup, flour, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix everything again ensuring the batter is smooth, consistency is important when making cheesecake! Finally, mix in the egg. Your batter should be relatively runny, but don’t worry, it will turn out delicious.
- Shape & Bake
Divide the batter evenly among your muffin tin. Then, bake for 18 minutes. To make sure it’s done, I give the tray a small shake. If only a little circle in the middle moves, your cheesecake should be done, as that small circle will become firm as the cheesecake is cooling.
- Cool & Enjoy
Allow the cheesecake to cool completely, and then move it to the fridge. They taste best after being cooled for at least three hours, and then moved back out of the fridge slightly before you plan on eating them. No one is going to blame you if you can’t wait that long though, I for one could not!
Don’t forget to tag us or #LiberTerre in your creations, and click here to find where you can pick up your LiberTerre products. Happy Canada Day!
