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Let’s talk about cracks…cheesecake cracks…I loathe them! Yeah, yeah I know the taste is the same, but I am all about presentation and those cracks…not so presentable. From what I read on the internet it seems as though the cracks develop when the cheesecake is cooled too quickly. So in case you are also a crack hater here are some tips. First, I always make sure my ingredients are at room temperature. For this recipe I wrapped the bottoms of the pans with foil and baked the cheesecakes in a water bath at 310°F for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes I turned the oven off and let the cheesecakes sit in the oven with the door closed for about a half hour. Then I cracked the oven and left them in for another half hour. I then transferred them to a cooling rack until they reached room temperature, after that, they went into the refrigerator overnight. As you can see…no cracks! I chose to add about 1/4 cup of berries to 2 of the cheesecakes and added a strawberry preserves swirl to the others.
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Mini Berry Cheesecakes
Ingredients
1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar; divided use
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
2.5 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Grated peel from 1/2 medium lemon (optional)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 310°F Prepare pans according to the directions above. Mix crumbs, 1 1/2 Tbsp. of the sugar and butter until well blended. Press firmly into bottom of pans.
2. Beat cream cheese, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, flour, vanilla and lemon peel with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. 3. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.
4. Bake 35 minutes or until center is almost set. (see above tips) Run small knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.
Yield | 3 (4 inch) mini cheesecakes
i love cheesecake and i love mini things…so these are pretty fantastic and so, so pretty!
I love cheese cake, but don’t eat it so often, since if I were to make it I couldn’t stop myself from eating most of it. My last cheesecake was chocolate crust with a chocolate hazelnut cheesecake, and it was the first time I went to such great lengths to make something so good (and expensive). It is the only “chocolate” cheese cake I’ve made and it was really great! I think this project taught me that there is a limit to just the right amount of chocolate, without overwhelming the cheesecake. If you’ve been to cheesecake factory and gotten the Godiva 50th anniversary Cheesecake, you may know what I mean.
I love cheesecake, but my husband…not so much. So those cute little pans would be great for me. I could make a cheesecake, and not have to worry about trying to eat it all myself or giving it away. Though either aren’t to hard to manage.
My favorite cheesecake is just your basic cheesecake topped with strawberries. But I have been dying to try Dorie’s Brown sugar apple cheesecake. But then I run into the problem I explained above. Maybe if I had one of these pans…
I actually need a quick simple recipe for cheesecake mine always comes out bad then i have to go to Jack In The Box to buy cheesecake and thats bad!
How cute!! I would love one :)
The one and only cheesecake recipe i made was a turtle cheesecake.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Turtle-Cheesecake-I/Detail.aspx
Im afraid thats as far as my cheesecake experience goes – but i would definitely practice your tips out if i was lucky enough to win that adorable pan!!
Those are gorgeous. My tip is to use a bain marie. I am also a huge fan of RLB’s recipe. However judging by the gorgeousness of these little beauties you don’t
need any hints;-)
These are so gorgeous! My favorite way to make little cheesecakes is to use a silicone oversize muffin pan. Because it’s so flexible, I can pop the cakes out easily AND make six at a time. Plus it’s small enough to fit inside a 9×13 Pyrex pan of water if the recipe calls for a bain-marie. :)
My favorite cheesecake tip is to whip the cream cheese and the sugar for a loooong time in an electric/stand mixer, until it is super smooth and creamy, but after you start adding the other ingredients, add just enough to mix – don’t overmix at this point! Otherwise, you will have too much air in the cake and it messes up the texture and makes it likely to crack.
Cheesecake also tastes even better after it spends a day in the fridge to solidify – the flavors are much more intense.
LOVE the mini cheesecakes!
Hi,
I was looking for ideas on mini desserts and found your mini cheesecakes. They are very cute. My favorite cheesecake recipe is Key Lime Cheesecake (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Key-Lime-Cheesecake-I/Detail.aspx). It’s sweet, tart and creamily rich.
Oh yay!!! I’m the first to comment =)
First off, that cheesecake photo is FANTABULOUS! I could never make something so gorgeous! But I’m going to beg and plead and bug you incessantly until you teach me how to be all fancy-dancy-like because my cheesecakes look nekkid in comparison to yours.
My favorite “tip” is to let the cheesecake stay in the oven until the oven is cool… when I do this, I get no cracks.
Okay I shared a tip… now your turn… share how you made the top so fancy-dancy-like. I’m uber impressed and my brown eyes are green with envy ;-)
Have a delicious day!
Take a berry purée and pipe three rings around the inside of the cheesecake, each a little larger than the last. Then take the point of a knife, starting at the outer edge of the cheesecake draw it to the center, this creates the scalloped look, continue all the way around the cake…. If you reverse, and start at the center and draw outward it gives It a spiderweb look:)