Cheesecake is one of our favorite desserts at home. My last couple of birthday cakes have been cheesecakes. That alone should tell you how much I love it. But do you know whats even better than a cheesecake? Little mini cheesecakes, of course. Jokes aside, these are the perfect option for a party or even for the family. You can make them a day ahead of the party and keep them refrigerated. They are easy to serve and could serve to help portion control too. And they are super delicious as well. Now that’s a dessert that ticks all the boxes for me.
Easy Mini Cheesecakes with a Strawberry Topping
Course: DessertDifficulty: Easy8
servings10
minutes15
minutes2-4 hrs
Mini Cheesecakes are the perfect make ahead dessert for a party. Easy to put together and you can switch the toppings with the season or the occasion.
Ingredients
- For the base –
120g Digestive biscuits
30g butter
- For the cheesecake –
250g cream cheese
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)
100g double cream
2 eggs
A tiny pinch of salt
- For the topping –
1/2 cup strawberry jam
Fresh strawberries
Directions
- For the base –
- Melt the butter and keep aside.
- Blitz the biscuits in a food processor till you get a coarse crumb texture.
- Add the melted butter and blitz again to combine. This should now resemble wet sand.
- For the filling –
- Beat the cream cheese till its creamy.
- Add the sugar and and mix till it is well combined.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Now add the lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla and salt and mix till combined.
- Lastly, add the cream and mix till it has incorporated with the rest of the ingredients.
- To assemble –
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
- Line a cupcake tray with paper cases.
- Place about 1 tbsp. or so of the biscuit crumb in each case. Using the back of a spoon, pack it down and flatten it.
- Top it with the cheesecake filling about 2/3 of the way.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes or till the outside has set and the middle still has a little jiggle to it. (You may find some of them puff up a bit or develop a little crack. That is fine.)
- Take it out of the oven and let it cool down completely.
- Warm the jam over some medium heat, just to loosen it a bit. You don’t need to simmer or boil it. This took me about a minute.
- Spoon a little jam over each of the mini cheesecakes.
- Top with some fresh berries.
- Refrigerate for 2-4 hours to set. You can leave it to set overnight as well.
Enjoy!!!
Recipe Video
How to make Custard from scratch … and a layered custard and jelly dessert
Today’s post is a walk down memory lane for me. As a kid, this dessert made an appearance at a lot of parties and gatherings and on other special occasions too. My mum makes a version of this. However, back in the day, we always used custard powder to make our custard. And I used to love it. When we moved away from India, initially I found it a little hard to find the custard powder that we used. So I did the only other thing I could think of. I started working on a custard recipe. After a few attempts and tweaks, I came up with a recipe that I was happy with. It’s a simple, easy and super delicious one. Well, you don’t have to take my word for it. Try it out for yourself and see. And then come back and let me know what you thought of it.
Once you make the custard, there are so many ways you can use it. Make a thinner version and pour it over your favorite dessert. You can serve this custard with some fresh fruit or use it to make a fresh fruit tart (I’ll share how I make mine very soon). Or you can do what I did, I made a layered dessert and serve it with some jelly. It was my first attempt at serving it up this way. If you don’t want to make individual servings, you can set your custard and jelly separately and let your guests help themselves to it.
Whichever way you decide to serve it up, you are going to love it.
How to make Custard from scratch … and a layered custard and jelly dessert
Course: DessertDifficulty: Medium6
servings30
minutes6
minutesA party favourite, this dessert combines 2 crowd favourites – a creamy vanilla custard and a fruit salad jelly.
Ingredients
- For the custard –
4 egg yolks
3 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
A scant pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- For the fruit salad Jelly–
1 pack of Raspberry Jelly
Assortment of fresh fruit, chopped into little pieces
(Do NOT use pineapple, kiwi or papaya / pawpaw as your jelly will not set.)
Directions
- For the custard –
- In a heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, salt and vanilla till it is light and creamy.
- Add the cornflour and whisk it in.
- Next add the milk and whisk it in till it is well incorporated and is a uniform mix.
- Place on a medium heat and cook, whisking continuously for about 15-18 minutes.
- Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate to set.
- For the fruit salad jelly –
- Pour the jelly granules in a bowl.
- Add 250ml boiling hot water. Stir to dissolve the Jelly granules.
- Add 200ml cold water and stir through.
- When the jelly has reached room temperature, add some chopped fruit.
** Please note, every Jelly brand may have to be prepared differently. So, please follow the instructions on your box of jelly to achieve the best results. - To assemble the layered dessert –
- Layer the custard in your servingware and refrigerate to set. Usually a couple of hours will achieve this.
- When the custard has set, gently pour the fruit salad jelly over it.
Refrigerate till you’re ready to serve.
Enjoy chilled!
Recipe Video
Notes
- If you are serving up the custard and jelly as a layered dessert, make the jelly only once the custard has set. This way it will still have a pouring consistency to help you layer the dessert.
Christmas Broken Glass Jello
Leave to set in the refrigerator till firm. I left mine about 8 hours. You may be able to cut into this sooner, but make sure that the Jelly has set firm before you cut it up. This dish can be made ahead of time. So plan for about 8 hours to set at this stage.
