Do you like cheesecake? I do but not that sorry excuse no-bake stuff. You might think well it so much easier!! Well, cheese cake is really not that hard to make and you aren't going to fool anyone with JELLO kind! I'm only kidding I will totally eat the no-bake variety, but I am not kidding when I say the real stuff is so much better. I have tried many different variations but this one is pretty simple and turns out awesome! So now that I have worked out the kinks here is the recipe:
Crust:
1 1/2 Cups graham cracker crumbs
4T Melted butter
3T Sugar
Raspberry Swirl:
6oz Fresh Raspberries or Blackberries
2T Sugar
Cheesecake:
2Lbs Cream Cheese
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
pinch of salt
1t Vanilla
4 large eggs
Yeild: 32
I start by taking the cream cheese out and opening it all to temp up a bit. Then, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Then I start with the crust. Crunch up the graham crackers. You can use a food processor, or a hammer, or what ever works best for you. Add the sugar to the crumbs. Melt the butter in the microwave. Stir to combine. Then press into lined muffin tins.
Next I get the fruit swirl ready. The first time I made these I just smashed up the fruit with a fork. After that, I smarted up a bit. ha! Now i use my smoothie blender. It takes about 5 seconds. This is the time to add the sugar as well.
Before:
After:
Set that aside. Now it is time to make the filling. First I put the cream cheese in my stand mixer and give it a good spin. Then, I add the sugar, and salt and give it another spin, like a minute or two.
Then I add the Vanilla, and eggs one at a time. Give it a 30 second spin after each egg on speed 2.
Now that the filling is done it is time to assemble the cheese cakes. I use a scooper to get the filling into the muffin cups. Then, I dot on the fruit. And swirl it around with a toothpick.
Once you have swirled all of your cheese cakes, its time to bake. (If you dont like fruit or you have a husband or child who is allergic or anti fruit, these are just as good plain. I have also done chocolate chip, peanut butter cups, anything you want.) These need to be baked in a water bath so the bottoms dont burn before the cheese cake is cooked. This simply means you put a jelly roll pan in the oven, then you pour water in that pan, then you set your muffin tin pan in tthe water and bake. These babies need to bake for 28-30 minutes. Light brown edges are okay but mean its time to come out! They will puff up quite a bit. They will fall back to normal as the cool.
Top with fresh berries and whipped cream, or eat plain. I dare you to have just one!!
