Mini Lemon Cheesecakes
A dream dessert. Delicious and very pretty little cheesecakes! I love cheesecake in any form and size, but mini ones are so fun to make and they are ideal to share.
Cheesecake is one of the most popular desserts in Poland, but there was not a lot of variety in flavor or size when I grew up. So I am so happy to find all different variations of this awesome dessert.
What I love about this recipe is that is so easy to make, using very simple ingredients and most importantly, it’s not too sweet. I love the crumbly base, and very smooth and creamy filing, that just melts in your mouth.
I used lilac infused sugar and lilac petals to add additional flavor, but you can use regular sugar and you will still enjoy this heavenly delicious, bite-size dessert.
Tips for perfect mini cheesecakes:
Room temperature ingredients- this is a must when it comes to cheesecakes. Cream cheese, yogurt, eggs have to be at room temperature in order to get a creamy smooth filling ,otherwise you will end up with lumpy texture. No thank you.
Pressing firmly and pre baking your crust- after dividing crumbs for your cheesecakes base into the muffin tin, press it firmly with small measuring cup or spoon ( I used back of my wooden ravioli cutter ) and pre bake it. This will result in a crispier crust.
Don’t over mix the batter or mix on too high speed- both over mixing and mixing on a high speed add more air to a batter. Too much air will cause cracking and created air bubbles will make your cheesecake rise too much and too quickly. This usually results in an indented top. You definitely want to avoid that.
Don’t over bake-this can lead to cracks also. You know your cheesecake is ready when the edges are well set and the inner circle is still jiggly.
Ingredients:
For the crust:
5 graham crackers
2 Tbl butter
For the filling :
2 4oz cream cheese, at room temperature and softened
1/4 cup sugar ( I used lilac infused )
3/4 cup greek yogurt
1/2 tsp vanila extract
1 egg
1 egg white
1 Tbl lemon juice
zest from 1 lemon
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 300 F and line 12- hole muffin tin with liners.
2.To make crust, place graham crackers in a zip lock bag and crush them using rolling pin.Transfer to a bowl and pour in melted butter. Mix together until mixture resembles wet sand. Divide the crumbs into prepared muffin liners and press firmly. Bake for 5 minutes. Set aside and let it cool while you make the filling.
3.To make the filling, place cream cheese and sugar in a bowl and beat together using a mixer ( I prefer to use hand mixer over standing electric mixer, so the filling won’t get over mix ) on medium speed for about a minute until smooth and creamy. Add greek yogurt, vanilla, lemon juice and zest. Mix together. Add egg and egg white and mix until just incorporated. The batter should be smooth and creamy. Divide the batter equally between the cupcake liners and bake for 18-20 minutes, until the edges are set and the middle is slightly jiggly.
4.Allow the mini cheesecakes to cool and after about 30 minutes take them out of the muffin tin and transfer them to the refrigerator and chill for 2 hours.
5. Once cooled , top them with your favorite topping ( jam, chocolate ganache, berries). I used whipped cream and fresh lilac petals.
Enjoy!
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