Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Cups

 Happy Easter everyone! We hope you all have a great day full of family, friends and FOOD! Another holiday, and another excuse for us to bake! Like always, we’re in charge of the dessert. We’ll be celebrating Easter at our sister Stefania’s house and we told her we’d bring the dessert. We knew we wanted something fruity since spring is finally here!  After much debate we decided on this: Cheesecake, lemon, blueberries and gingersnap crusts. Then we were off to creating just what we wanted.

We made these lemon blueberry cheesecakes cups that have an almond gingersnap crust. We found several different recipes and put them together to come up with these! We love a cheesecake with a gingersnap crust. As for the blueberries, we didn’t want to mix in fresh blueberries in the cheesecake. Instead, we wanted to make a blueberry compote that would concentrate the flavors more.

These little cheesecakes turned out wonderful! They are perfect for large parties. Simple to make and can serve a crowd. Sometimes, when having cheesecake for dessert after a big meal, people tend to pass on it. We think by having these little cheesecakes, people feel less guilty and will go for them! They are just perfect.

Feel free to play with the flavors and try other fruits!

Almond Gingersnap Crust

• 7 oz gingersnap cookies
• 4oz ground almonds
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 6 tbsp butter, melted

Line a 36 muffin tins with muffin cases and set aside. Crush the cookies to fine crumbs and mix with ground almonds, sugar and melted butter. Press 1 heaped tablespoon of mixture into the base of each muffin case and place in the refrigerator to chill.

 

Blueberry Compote

Recipe adapted from Annie’s Eats.

• 2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 ½ tsp. cornstarch
• 1 tbsp. cold water
• 1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a medium, nonreactive saucepan, heat the blueberries and sugar until the blueberries begin to release their juices.  Mix the cornstarch with the cold water and lemon juice until lump free, then stir the slurry into the blueberries.Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 1 minute.  Remove from the heat.  Cool to room temperature and set aside.

 

Cheesecake Filling

 Recipe adapted from Annie’s Eats.

• 2 1/2 lb. (5 8-oz. pkgs.) cream cheese, cut into rough 1-inch chunks, at room temperature
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large egg yolks plus 6 large eggs, at room temperature 

Preheat oven to 325F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese at medium-low speed to break up and soften it slightly, about 1 minute.  Scrape the beater and the bottom and sides of the bowl well with a rubber spatula; add the salt and about half of the sugar and beat at medium-low speed until combined, about 1 minute.  Scrape the bowl; beat in the remaining sugar until combined, about 1 minute.  

Scrape the bowl; add the sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla.  Beat at low speed until combined, about 1 minute.  Scrape the bowl; add the egg yolks and beat at medium-low speed until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute.  Scrape the bowl; add the remaining eggs 2 at a time, beating until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute, scraping the bowl between additions.

Spoon the mixture over the cookie bases 3/4 full. Using a teaspoon, top each cheesecake cup with the blueberry compote. (You might find it easier to use another teaspoon to push off the compote on top of the cheesecake filling.)

Bake for 25 minutes or until the cheesecakes are puffed and starting to color. Cool, then chill until ready to eat.

Dust each cheesecake with powdered sugar and serve.