Camembert Cheesecake

I went to an appie party the other night as an alternative to our (my friends) annual cookie exchange. I got a recipe from the Canadian Living December 2007 issue. Finding a mini-cheese cake tray would be lots of fun. I couldn't find a mini cheesecake tray, so I used my 8 inch spring form pan which was great too. Here is the recipe and it was amazing:

1 pkg of cream cheese softened, 4 oz. of camembert cheese, diced, 1 egg, 1 tsp. of minced fresh rosemary, ¼ tsp. of pepper, 2/3 cup of sour cream. For the Crust: ¼ cup of toasted unbalanced almonds, ¼ cup of butter, softened, ½ cup of all purpose flour, ½ tsp. of minced fresh rosemary, ¼ tsp. of salt. Garnish: 4 thin slices of prosciutto, ½ tsp. of vegetable oil.

For the crust: In a food processor, finely grind almonds. In bowl, beat butter until fluffy; stir in almonds, flour, rosemary, and salt. Press onto base of twelve 4-oz (125 ml) mini cheesecake cups, or one medium sized spring form pan. Bake in the centre of a 350 degree oven until set, about 10 minutes. Let cool.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with Camembert until fluffy. Beat in egg, rosemary, and pepper; beat in sour cream. Spoon over bases or base of crust. Bake in the centre of 325 degree oven until puffed and centres still jiggle slightly, about 12 minutes. Run hot knife around edge of each cheesecake. Let cool on rack. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours or you can make ahead and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Garnish: slice prosciutto crosswise into thin strips. In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; fry prosciutto stirring, until crisp. About three minutes. You can make this ahead for up to 24 hours. Garnish each cheesecake with prosciutto.