Halloween Cheesecakes are cute little New York style cheesecakes with chocolate crumb crusts that are dressed up for Halloween with cobwebs of chocolate. These cheesecakes would make a nice ending to a Fall dinner party where an unexpected surprise is always appreciated. You can serve these alone or else with a strawberry or raspberry sauce, or even a medley of fresh berries.

Before the cheesecake batter is made and poured into 12 individual muffin cups, each muffin cup needs a strip of parchment paper. This is done so the cheesecakes can be removed easily from the pan, simply by lifting the ends of the paper. Once the parchment paper strips have been cut and placed in each muffin pan, the chocolate crust needs to be made. The crust is a combination of finely ground chocolate wafers, with just enough melted butter to hold the crumbs together. A heaping tablespoon of crumbs in placed into each muffin cup and then refrigerated while you carry on with the recipe.

Now, whenever you make a cheesecake batter, all the ingredients need to be at room temperature, particularly the cream cheese. Beat the cream cheese just until it is creamy and smooth (no lumps) and then beat in the sugar. Next, add the eggs, one at a time, making sure to scrape down the bowl often to remove any lumps. (Beat at low speed to reduce the amount of air incorporated into the batter.) Then add the vanilla extract and sour cream and the batter is complete. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffins cups and bake (about 18-20 minutes) until the filling is set, but it is still a wobbly in the center.

Once the cheesecakes have been baked and cooled (several hours or even overnight), remove them from the pan by lifting the edges of the parchment paper strips. Peel the parchment paper off the cheesecakes and then pipe a cobweb design on each cheesecake with melted chocolate. You can serve the cheesecakes straight away or else refrigerate until serving time. These cheesecakes can be made several days in advance of serving.

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