If you’re like me, and like to experiment with aromatics and flavour, you will love this rich, aromatic baked mini cheesecake.
There a few components to this cheesecake – base, sauce and cheesecake mix.
This is not a quick cheesecake.
BASE
For the base, you’ll need:
6 tennis biscuits, crumbed
6 chocolate or vanilla biscuits, crumbed
125g chocolate brownie, crumbed
80ml melted butter, as needed
Prep the bases:
1. Stir until well combined.
2. Line tray with paper cupcake holders.
I used 5cm paper holders for minis.
3. Press base into individual mini trays with a shot glass, or any spoon/scoop if flat.
BATTER
For the batter, you’ll need:
900g medium fat creamed cheese, room temperature
83g sour cream, room temperature
5ml vanilla essence
115g white chocolate & lavender sauce
200g white sugar, sifted
2 full eggs, room temperature
2 egg yolks, room temperature
1⁄4 teaspoon of salt, sifted
Let’s make the batter:
1. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
1. Whip the cream cheese with a hand blender until beaten smooth.
2. Add the sugar and salt, and whip with the hand blender until fluffy.
3. Add the sour cream, and whip until again fluffy.
4. Add the two full eggs, one at a time, while simultaneously pulse with the hand blender until smooth.
Pulsing while adding the eggs will prevent too many air bubbles in, which can cause cracking.
5. Add the egg yolks one at a time, following the same procedure as above.
6. Add the vanilla essence and white chocolate & lavender sauce, and mix well with a spatula.
7. Spoon the mixture onto your prepped bases.
If you’d like to stack them like I did, spoon an even amount onto the bases and directly onto the cupcake paper.
8. Bake at 150°C for 10-12 minutes.
Slow and steady – these are quite small.
9. Let the finished cheesecakes cool at room temperature.
It is normal for the centre to sink. This is why I stacked mine.
10. Once cooled, let the cheesecakes firm in the fridge.
CONSTRUCTION
White chocolate is quite rich, so I like to top the cheesecakes with something a bit more balanced, or something citrus to cut through the richness.
1. Whipped cream & candied lavender.
2. Dark chocolate mousse & edible flower.
3. Whipped cream & brownie crumble.
4. Torched lemon meringue.
Enjoy!
