tangy surprise ice cream minis

these ice cream sandwiches are adapted from the Lemon Ice Cream Sandwiches with Bluberry Swirl featured in this month's Gourmet. i'm not going to claim that i used the recipe they provided, although it was 100% what inspired me to go down this path, i made a few significant departures that resulted in an ultimately tangier and more miniature product. here's where i strayed...i did not bake my own sandwich layers. i used the leftover nilla wafers from the cheesequakes. i did not measure a gosh darn thing. i just put some blueberries in a pot and some juice in some ice cream, and ta-dah....it became a dessert. this is a perfect no-bake treat for those who don't like to measure and have come to appreciate the art of eyeballing and taste testing. i have learned that, in life and in cooking, your eyeballs and taste buds rarely let you down.

Here's about what i did, and what ingredients are needed to recreate:

Tangy Lemon Blueberry Ice Cream Snacks

40-50 nilla wafer snack cookies
3 cups vanilla ice cream
1 lemon (juiced and zested)
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen, i used frozen)
2 tsp. cornstarch

Mix ice cream with zest of one lemon and 1/2 of the lemon juice, place back in the freezer while you prepare the blueberry compote. Heat blueberries over medium heat until they release some juices, mix cornstarch and remaining lemon juice and add to blueberries. Stir about 5 minutes or until sauce thickens. Refrigerate until cool, about 1 hour. Once the compote has cooled, swirl into ice cream mixture. Sandwich blueberry lemon ice crean between two nilla wafers and wrap in cellophane. Chill another hour before serving. Makes 20+ ice cream sandwiches.

Mini Cheesequakes Will Rock Your World

My mom used to make these and I remember them being easy enough to help her with and perfectly portable for lunches and picnics. It's been about 15 years since I last had them, and they are as tasty and simple as I remember. Also, I like having a reason to buy Nilla Wafers.

We used to just eat these plain without any topping. My mom mentioned that for added flair, if they're being served at a party, you can brush them with apricot preserves and top with a kiwi slice. I made these for Kristen G's b-day, and it seemed like a good time to introduce some flair. You could also top with any seasonal fruit of your liking: cherries, strawberries, peaches, etc. Some people also top them with canned pie filling.

MINIATURE CHEESECAKES (I call them cheesequakes)

Ingredients

1 12 oz. box of Nilla Wafers

2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese

3/4 c. of sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3 kiwis, peeled and sliced

Apricot Preserves, heated for brushing tops

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line muffin tins with muffin cup(metal and paper muffin liners work best because they are sturdier). Put a Nilla wafer in each cup. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla with an electric mixer until fluffy. Fill each muffin tin almost to the top.

Bake for 15 minutes. Cool. Brush tops with warm preserves and top with a kiwi slice.

Makes about 18 mini cheesequakes.