It's been a while since I've looked through a few cheesecake recipes. Maybe it's because a slice of cheesecake to me is a delicacy! It must be rich, velvety, smooth and not too big a slice. Just enough to walk away with a satisfied smooth smile!
Today's recipe isn't aimed at being a cheesecake cupcake, it's simply an easy way of baking a cheesecake and making serving it to your guests so much easier, prettier and fun! I made plain cream cheese and condensed milk mini cheesecakes with a choc chip crust, topped with a mixed berries jam (in syrup). Follow the post as I explain how I made these perfect sweet and sour cheesecake delicacies!
{Ingredients}
For the crust:
1 packet choc chip cookies (290g)
100g Stork Bake
For the filling:
3 large eggs (separated)
2 tubs cream cheese (480-500g)
3ml vanilla essence
160ml castor sugar
2 tbsp. maizena
250ml condensed milk
For the topping:
I used a store bought mixed berries jam (in syrup). Quick and easy. This way you can please all your guests by having a variety of toppings for them to choose from. *Serving suggestion: Serve your mini cheesecakes with mini jam jars on a tray.
{Method}
Preheat the oven 180*C.
For the crust:
Melt Stork Bake in a heatproof bowl in the microwave or in saucepan on the stove.
Crumbed choc chip cookies in a food processor or crush them in a heavy duty plastic bag.
Mix the crumbs into the melted Stork Bake.
Line a cupcake tin with cupcake wrappers and put an even amount of cookie crumbs in each wrapper (you will need about 24 cupcake wrappers).
With the back of a spoon even out the cookie crumbs in each wrapper to make a compact cookie crust.
Put it in the fridge while preparing the filling.
For the filling:
Beat egg yolks and 50ml castor sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add maizena and beat until smooth.
Add cream cheese, condensed milk and vanilla and beat until smooth.
In a separate bowl beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then add the rest of the castor sugar (110ml) while beating the egg whites until smooth and creamy.
With a wooden spoon fold the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture, do not over mix.
Take the cupcake tin with the cookie crust filled cupcake wrappers out of the fridge and pour an even amount of filling into each cupcake wrapper.
Bake for 30-35 minutes at 170*C.
DO NOT bake the mini cheesecakes for too long otherwise you will have very dry and crumby textured mini cheesecakes.
REMEMBER: you want the texture to be smooth and velvety.
{Tip} Rather keep your eye on the oven and have your cake tester nearby. The middle of the mini-cheesecakes might not seem 'ready' yet, but remember it still needs to set while cooling down.
Enjoy!
