Berry Swirl Cheesecakies

Berry Swirl Cheesecakies

Mini Cheesecakes? Yes, please! A moist cheesecake bite without having to make a water bath, even better. That's pretty much what these "Berry Swirl Cheesecakies" are all about. I sort of 'freestyled' this recipe a bit, and the name too. What I love about this recipe is its simplicity and versatility. Think of the cream cheese filling as your base -- make the swirl and the crust out of whatever you like. Let's start with the crust, I used honey graham crackers but you could use any sort of sweet cracker or cookie, honey grams perhaps? And for the swirl, I love fruit but you could certainly make a chocolate spin on these and use chocolate graham crackers with a chocolate swirl. 

Swirl Cheesecakies 


Makes 32 Cupcakes


Ingredients
For the Crust:

• 1½ cups honey graham crackers
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons sugar

For the Berry Swirl:

• 6 oz fresh raspberries or blueberries (I used a mix) 
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons raspberry jam (optional)

For the Filling:

• 2 lbs cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1½ cups sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 325˚ F.  Line standard cupcake pans with paper liners.  Using a food processor, pulse graham crackers into a course crumb. In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar.  Stir together with a fork until well blended and all the dry ingredients are moistened.  Press 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner - press to the bottom using the bottom of a small drinking glass.  Bake until just set, 5 minutes.  Allow to cool. 

While the crust cools, prepare the berry puree. Using am immersion blender process the berries, the jam and sugar until smooth. Press through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Set aside. 

Berries and jam to be processed 

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed until fluffy.  Blend in the sugar until smooth.  Mix in the salt and vanilla.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

To assemble the cheesecakes, spoon 3 tablespoons of the cheesecake batter over the crust in each cupcake liner.  Dot a ½ teaspoon of the berry puree in a few dots over the cheesecake filling.  Use a toothpick or a wooden skewer to lightly swirl and create a marbled effect.

Berry puree dots 

Bake until the filling is set, about 22 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking (They will look quite puffed initially but will sink).  Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool to room temperature.  Store in a refrigerator.