Mini cheesecakes

I made these little cheesecakes for a gathering at a friend's place. They taste quite light, despite the ingredients, and they're not too sweet and rich. The fruit on the top helps give a bit of tartness. They were very popular! I don't think they would have been as impressed if they had known how easy they were to make.

The recipe came from a book that I bought at a book fair for $2. It's a recipe book put out by Kraft with recipes for cooking with Philadelphia cream cheese. This is the only recipe I've made from it so far, probably because we rarely have cream cheese in the fridge. Now that I've had another look through it, there seems to be some interesting savoury recipes. I might have to stock up on cream cheese more often and try some out.



Mini cheesecakes

Adapted from Heavenly Moments: cooking with Philadelphia Cream Cheese

Makes 24 mini cakes, or 12 larger ones

2 x 250 g block of cream cheese, softened
1 cup (225g) caster sugar
2 eggs
150g almondmeal
1/2 cup (125ml) sour cream
2 tablespoons custard powder
Fresh fruit (I used strawberries and blueberries)
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Line the bases of a muffin pan.
Beat the cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl until just combined. Add the eggs, ground almonds, sour cream and custard powder, beating until smooth. Spoon in the the prepared pan. Top the mixture with fruit and drizzle with maple syrup.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until set and golden (if you're making small cakes, it may take less time).