Mini Raspberry Cheesecakes
These are adorable little, personal-sized treats of plain cheesecake with fruity filling and topping. They can be done with any pie filling that you like, but I chose raspberry.
These are adorable little, personal-sized treats of plain cheesecake with fruity filling and topping. They can be done with any pie filling that you like, but I chose raspberry.
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- crust
- filling
- 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 cups unsalted butter melted
- 8 graham crackers crushed
- 16 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 2/3 cups heavy cream room temperature
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- filling and topping
- 24 ounces fresh raspberries
- 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoons fresh lemon juice fresh is best
- 6 raspberries fresh
- Carbohydrate 170.675873840733 g
- Cholesterol 474.127777818065 mg
- Fat 49.4622727189824 g
- Fiber 8.11036372685355 g
- Protein 18.0765308805077 g
- Saturated Fat 25.3953682113277 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (489g)
- Sodium 484.462887287772 mg
- Sugar 162.565510113879 g
- Trans Fat 6.22762671855193 g
- Calories 1170 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Chill mini cheesecake pan, butter thoroughly, set aside in refrigerator.
- To make crust, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter.
- Using about 1/4 cup per well, press crumbs into bottoms of wells.
- Bake crusts for ten minutes. Let cool on wire rack for an hour. Turn oven off.
- To make raspberry filling, blend berries in blender or food processor until smooth, then press through sieve until seedless.
- Combine raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan and heat until sugar dissolves.
- Remove from heat and let cool for an hour.
- To make cheesecake filling, whisk together sugar, vanilla, salt, and cream. Set aside.
- Using an electric mixer on medium, beat cream cheese until mostly smooth.
- Add sugar mixture and beat in. Add eggs and mix just until combined.
- Put raspberry sauce in a squeezy bottle.
- In each well, pour in 1/4 cup, then about a tablesp0on of berry. Make sure to keep the berry from reaching the edge of well. Then another 1/4 cup, then another layer of berry, then one last 1/4 cup of cheesecake batter. Try and keep about a centimeter of the well unfilled.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, until cakes have risen to edge of well or just above. You want the edges to be firm, but not brown, and the center to still be wiggly. Rotate pan halfway through baking time.
- Let cakes cool in oven for 2 hours. Let cool for 2 more hours, then refrigerate overnight.
- Carefully, pop cakes up out from wells. Using a frosting spatula, carefully remove cakes from well bottoms. Place on desired serving dishes.
- Before serving, use remaining raspberry sauce, in a squeezy bottle, to swizzle decoratively over top of cakes. If desired, place 1 fresh raspberry atop each cake.
Cream cheese dictates the physical structure of these miniature desserts, requiring full-fat blocks brought completely to room temperature before mixing to prevent stubborn lumps from forming in the batter. Using cold dairy introduces pockets of air that expand during baking and cause the delicate custards to crack. Softened cheese accepts sugar and eggs smoothly, incorporating just enough air to yield a dense, velvety crumb without compromising structural integrity.
Achieving proper texture relies entirely on thermal management during the cooling phase, specifically utilizing a slow temperature drop to prevent the custards from deflating. Allowing the cakes to rest inside the turned-off oven for two hours after baking stops the cooking process gradually while retaining residual moisture. Once chilled overnight, the structure firms up completely and releases cleanly from the pan wells without sticking or tearing.
Serving rich, dairy-heavy miniature desserts requires thoughtful beverage pairing to clear the palate between bites. Pouring a tart, sparkling dry cider or an effervescent glass of prosecco cuts through the dense fat content of the cream cheese while echoing the bright acidity of the seedless raspberry reduction. Alternatively, a cup of unadorned black drip coffee provides a bitter counterpoint that highlights the natural sweetness of the fruit topping.
Constructing multi-course menus featuring these individual cheesecakes allows for seamless meal pacing because the components require overnight refrigeration anyway. Pre-portioning ensures effortless plating at the conclusion of dinner, leaving hosts free to apply the decorative sauce swizzles and fresh fruit garnishes right before service.
