Raspberry Mini Cheesecakes

In the last week, my wife attended a potluck lunch event with her friends.  One of the friends is a very good cook and had made Raspberry Mini Cheesecakes from a recipe she found with her subscription to Cook’scountry.com website.  My wife brought me the recipe, and I made it a few days ago for a family celebration.

This is very easy to make as there are only six ingredients in the recipe.  I had to visit the store to purchase a package of Keebler brand shortbread cookies.  The store were I purchased the cookies didn’t have the plain shortbread, so I purchased a package of Pecan Shortbread (they worked fine).  I also picked up a small package of fresh raspberries for the garnish.

I started by lining a regular sized cupcake pan with cupcake liners.  Into each liner, I placed one of the shortbread cookies that just fit flat into the bottom of the pan.  I then spooned a about one-teaspoon of seedless raspberry jam onto the center of each cookie.  I started heating the large oven at 300 degrees.

I mixed the filling by placing one full package of softened cream cheese (eight-ounce) in my mixing bowl and beating for about two minutes until it is fluffy.  While still mixing, into the cream cheese I slowly added 1/2-cup of sweetened condensed milk.  Once the condensed milk was worked into the cream cheese, I added two eggs, one at a time and beat the mixture until it was creamy which took three minutes.

I poured the filling mixture into each of the cupcake liners, dividing the mixture between each liner.  The filling coved the cookie and jam at the bottom of each liner.

I placed the filled cupcake pan into the oven on the middle rack for 22 minutes until the filling had set completely.  After letting the pan of cheesecakes cool on the range top for 20 minutes, I removed each cheesecake in it’s liner from the cupcake pan and set them on a plate that I put into the refrigerator for an hour to fully chill.

Once the cupcakes were cold, I placed two large spoonfuls the raspberry jam in a custard cup and placed it (covered) in the microwave for forty-five seconds until the jam was thinned.  I spooned a dollop of the warm jam into the center of each cheesecake and set two or three fresh raspberries into the jam.  Once I was finished garnishing all the cheescakes, I stored the mini cheesecakes back in the refrigerator.

These are excellent to eat, the cheesecake filling tastes like a full sized cheesecake and is very satisfying.  The cupcake size is perfect for one serving which reduces the temptation to eat too large a slice of cheesecake.  The cookie on the bottom softens while cooking, but it still makes a slick crunch when eating.  I’m glad that I went ahead and purchased the raspberries for the garnish as they add a little bit of tartness to the sweetness of the jam.

This will be a recipe for special occasions that I will probably make about once a year because they are just so tempting.

Find the recipe:  http://www.cookscountry.com/pwlogin.asp?did=5997&area=recipe&iseason=

Adventures In Food: Author: Kerry Howell