i am a food blog

If you read this blog regularly, you’ll know that I have a slight obsession with grilled cheese sandwiches. I even threw myself a grilled cheese themed birthday party. It was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. I had a grilling station, different kinds of bread, a bunch of add-ins and, of course, a chip bar. Turns out that a lot of my friends hadn’t made grilled cheese before!

Everyone had a great time making their ultimate grilled cheeses, but near the end of the party, one of my friends had a serious question for me.

Big R: Uh, Steph, this is great and all, but where’s the fried cheese?
Me: What fried cheese?
Big R: On the invite, it said it was a fried cheese party.
Me (laughing): It said GRILLED CHEESE.
Big R (whips out the invite and takes a closer look): Oh, oh yeah, it does. Damn it, I was so excited. I thought there was going to be fried cheese!

I have to admit, a fried cheese party sounds pretty epic. I may have to do that one year!

These guys aren’t fried cheese, but they made me pretty happy while I was making them and even happier while I was eating them. Mini triple layer grilled cheeses are definitely decadent, cute and fun. Everything I love in a snack.

Some tips: keep your heat on medium to medium-low and be patient – you don’t want your bread to burn before your cheese melts. I like using shredded cheese because I find that it melts more evenly, but feel free to use whatever you’re used to.

On butter vs. mayo: lately I’ve been hearing people talking about grilling their grilled cheeses with mayo instead of butter. I gave it a go but I definitely prefer butter. Grilled mayo kind of was strange to me – maybe because I grew up on buttered grilled cheeses. Not that the mayo was bad, just different. But, on the topic of different, sometimes I like to mix a bit of miso into my butter when grilling. It adds an extra layer of delicious umami.

Mini Grilled Cheese Cakes Recipe
makes as many as needed

• bread of choice, cut into rounds (I used this biscuit cutter)
• room temp butter or mayo (I prefer butter)
• miso paste, if desired (if using, mix with butter in a 2 to 1 ratio)
• shredded cheese of choice (I used cheddar)
• flat leaf parsley, to garnish

Butter the outsides of your bread. Heat a pan over medium low heat. Add the bread, butter side down and top with cheddar. Place another round of bread on top and top with more cheddar. Place a third piece of buttered bread on top, butter side facing up. Grill until cheese is melted and bread is golden and then flip. Repeat as needed, top with flat leaf parsley if using and enjoy immediately.

*If you’re wondering what to do with the rounds of bread you’ve cut out, try out my grilled egg and cheese or cut them up and use them in a savory bread pudding.

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