Who says that tacos are just a main dish? Make the shells sweet with brown sugar and cinnamon, fill them with a cheesecake filling and strawberry sauce and you have a great, easy dessert!
Tortilla Shells:
6 large flour tortillas
1/2 c. light brown sugar
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
vegetable oil, for frying
Strawberry Sauce:
2 c. fresh strawberries
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. corn starch
2 T. water
Cheesecake Filling:
8 o.z cream cheese
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
1 c. heavy whipping cream
Tortilla Shells:
Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl; set aside. Cut the tortillas with a 3 1/2 - 4 inch circle cutter, making 30 tortilla circles.
Meanwhile, heat one inch of oil in a skillet. Once the oil is hot, use tongs to put tortilla circles in; fry for 4-5 seconds; turn the other side and fold in half, using tongs to make the shape of a shell. Fry for few more seconds until it gets golden brown; turn the other side and fry until it also gets golden brown, too.
When tortillas are done, take them out; immediately put them in the bowl of light brown sugar and cinnamon; use a spoon to coat them well.*
Place tortilla shells in an upside down muffin tin and repeat the same with the remaining tortillas.
Strawberry Sauce:
Start by washing, cleaning and cutting strawberries into quarters; put them in a medium saucepan along with sugar and lemon juice; stir well; cook at medium-high heat for about 4-5 minutes.
While strawberries are cooking, combine corn starch and water in a small dish; pour into the saucepan with the strawberries, stirring and cooking until it thickens. When the sauce is ready, remove it from heat; allow to cool to room temperature.
Cheesecake Filling:
Beat heavy whipping cream in a large bowl, until stiff peaks form; set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until it gets smooth; add vanilla; beat until combined. Fold in whipped cream.
Put cheesecake filling in a piping bag; cut off the top; fill tortilla shells. Be sure tortilla shells are completely cooled before filling them! Top with strawberry sauce at room temperature.
Keep refrigerated.
Serve cold.
30 servings.
*Tip: Don't fry tortillas too much, just until they're golden brown. If you fry them too much, they won't coat well when placing them in the sugar-cinnamon mixture. It's important to coat them as soon as they're taken out of the oil while they're still hot.