Recipe video above. Fabulously adorable little individual cheesecakes that are perfect for gatherings. They are easier to make than 1 large cheesecake and a whole lot less messy to serve! Decorate with berries and whipped cream, or use the topping from this Strawberry or Blueberry Cheesecake.Please ensure the fridge ingredients are at room temperature so the filling mixture is completely smooth. Nobody wants little lumps in their cheesecake!
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time27 minutesmins
Chilling6 hourshrs
Course: Sweet Baking
Cuisine: Western
Keyword: Mini cheesecake
Servings: 12
Calories: 353cal
Author: Nagi
Ingredients
Base:
150g/ 5 ozdigestive biscuits (10 pieces) or Graham Crackers (20 squares) (Note 1 for other biscuits)
60g / 4 tbspunsalted butter, melted
1tbspcaster sugar(superfine sugar)
1/8tspcinnamon powder(optional)
Pinchof salt
Filling:
375g / 12 ozcream cheese(block), at room temperature (Note 2)
1 1/2tbspflour, plain / all-purpose
1tspvanilla extract
1/2cupsour cream, room temperature (or plain yogurt)
Preheat oven to 160°C / 325°F (140°C fan) with the shelf 1/3 from the bottom of the oven. Line a 12-hole standard muffin tin with paper muffin liners.
Base:
Blitz: Break the crackers up with your hands then blitz in a food processor until they form fine crumbs - about 10 seconds or so. (Note 4) Add remaining Base ingredients, blitz to combine. It should have the texture of wet sand.
Press: Divide mixture between the muffin tin holes. Press down firmly to flatten using something flat and round. A 1/3 cup measure fits perfectly in mine my tin holes for this purpose.
Bake: Backe for 7 minutes then cool bases for 5 minutes before filling.
Filling:
Filling (Note 5): Beat cream cheese on speed 5 of an electric beater just until smooth (~ 10 seconds). Add flour, vanilla, sour cream, sugar and lemon. Beat on speed 5 just until combined (~10 seconds). Beat in eggs one at a time just until incorporated. Mixture should be like a thick pancake batter.
Bake filling: Divide mixture between muffin holes. Use it all - you can can go within 3mm of rim as it won’t rise much. Bake for 20 minutes.
Chill: Remove from the oven then cool for 1 hour on the counter in the muffin tin. When cooled, cover with baking/parchment paper then loosely with cling wrap. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours and preferably overnight, or until the liner can be peeled off cleanly.
Decorate and serve:
De-chill: If you have the time,remove cheesecakes from the fridge 30 minutes prior to serving, to take some of the fridge chill out (the cheesecake is nicer at room temperature).
Chantilly cream: Place ingredients in a bowl and beat on high until the cream is thick enough to pipe/dollop.
Decorate: Pipe or dollop with cream, decorate with berries, dust with icing sugar. Serve proudly!
Notes
1. Biscuits - I tried a variety of biscuits and found digestive biscuits and graham crackers to be my preference for mini cheesecakes. For graham crackers you will need 1 3/4 cup or 20 squares for 150g.Marie crackers (commonly used in Australia for cheesecake base which I use for full size cheesecakes) works but needs and extra 90g butter (the base is drier than with digestives).Use any biscuits you want but you may need to adjust the butter depending on the type so it stays together when you press it in the base. Just make base as-is, then add 1 tbsp (15g) extra melted butter at a time until you get the right texture.2. Cream cheese - Use block cream cheese as it's firmer than the spreadable tub variety.3. Eggs - Use eggs labelled as "large eggs" as they are an industry standard size of around 55g/2oz each. Please ensure they are at room temperature so they incorporate easily in the batter.4. No food processor? Just put the biscuits in a ziplock bag and bash with a rolling pin or large can. It's very satisfying!5. Creating a smooth filling - The goal is to make a smooth mixture with minimal beating so there's no bubbles on the surface and no cracking risk. Hence the instruction to have all ingredients at room temperature rather than fridge-cold!6. Peeling off liner - If you want even neater sides, pop the cheesecakes in the freezer for 30 minutes or so, until the sides firm up. The lining will peel off even more cleanly.7. Serving - Decorate close to serving time ideally. However they can stay in the fridge for a few hours and will be fine! I assemble prior to leaving my house then put it straight in the fridge at the destination.8. Storage - Cheesecakes will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. Regular cream will deflate a bit though, that's just what happens, but it's still delicious. Stabilised cream is more resistant to deflating while still as airy as normal whipped cream. To make, substitute 1/4 of the unwhipped cream with the same amount of 40% fat marscapone. Whip into cream as usual, and use as per normal cream.See tips above the recipe video for making ahead and taking to gatherings.9. Nutrition per cheesecake, excluding toppings.