Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes

Preparation
1. Prepare hot simmering water for a water batch.
2. Preheat the oven to 300°F | 149°C.
The benefits of a water bath:
Just like creme brûlée, the heat gets delivered more slowly by baking them with a water bath, which leads to incredibly smooth cheesecakes! It also decreases the chance of the surface of the cheesecakes getting cracked.
Combine the ingredients.
1. Mix cream cheese, sugar, and salt. Mix them in a large bowl with a whisk until it looks smooth.
2. Add sour cream and heavy cream. Mix them well until smooth.
3. Add cornstarch. Mix it until you don't see any lumps of cornstarch.
4. Add yolk and whole egg. Mix them until it looks smooth.
5. Add vanilla extract and lemon juice. You can adjust the amounts as you like.
6. Mix it with a rubber spatula at the end. Clean the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure it's incorporated evenly.
Tips💡
1. Use room temperature cream cheese. Leave it at room temperature ahead to make it soft so that it blends easily.
2. Avoid whipping it at high speed for a long time to prevent the cheesecakes from containing lots of air holes.
3. You can also use a stand mixer instead of mixing them by hand.
8 oz Cream cheese, 2.3 oz Granulated sugar, ⅛ teaspoon Salt, 5.3 oz Sour cream, 2.6 oz Heavy cream, 1 tablespoon Cornstarch, 1 yolk Yolk, 1 egg Whole egg, 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract, 1.5 teaspoon Lemon juice
Bake the cheesecakes.
1. Place cupcake liners on the cupcake pan and divide the cheesecake batter. One batch makes 8 regular cupcakes. Use an ice cream scoop to do this easily.
2. Place a sheet tray in the preheated oven and pour hot simmering water which is enough to soak about ⅓ - ½ of the cupcake pan height. Carefully place the cupcake pan on top and bake at 300°F | 149°C for about 25 minutes until the cheesecakes jiggle like puddings when you add vibrations. (Adjust the time and temperature depending on the oven, the cake size, etc.)
Tips💡
1. Be careful not to spill any water into the cheesecakes when placing the cupcake pan on top of the sheet tray.
2. I often knock on the oven door to add the vibrations and see how much it jiggles. You can also tap the tray the tray gently!
Chill them in the fridge.
1. Let the cheesecakes cool down in the cupcake pan since they are very soft and fragile while they are hot.
2. Take them out carefully with a small cake spatula and chill them in the fridge for more than a few hours. They get firmer as they cool down.
Make strawberry jam.
Make a half batch of homemade strawberry jam for one batch of the cheesecake recipe.
* The ingredients listed in the recipe in this post are already half the amount of the original recipe.
* You can also make one batch of the original recipe and store the rest for other uses!
8 oz Fresh Strawberries, 4 oz Granulated Sugar, 1.5 tablespoon Lemon juice
Make the whipped cream frosting.
Whip heavy cream and granulated sugar until it looks fluffy and stiff.
Tip💡
Make a stiff & fluffy whipped cream so it can hold the shape.
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
You can also use cream cheese buttercream as the frosting. This might be a better option if you hope to leave them at room temperature for some time. I introduced two ways to make cream cheese in the post, and the one I used this time was the first one with less butter. (Pick whichever you like!)
7 oz Heavy cream, 0.5 oz Granulated sugar
Finish assembling.
1. Pipe the frosting into a donut shape on top of the cheesecake using a piping bag with a round tip. Fill the jam on the hole in the center and pipe another circle on top. (Or you can also try a different way!)
2. Attach crushed graham cracker crumbs on the side. You can omit graham crackers if you want them as a crustless cheesecake!
3. Top them with fresh strawberries on top. Enjoy!
Tips💡
Whipped cream slowly softens at room temperature. I recommend taking them out from the fridge right before you serve!
Some Fresh strawberries, Some Graham crackers

Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes

Equipment

Ingredients

Cheesecake

Strawberry jam

Whipped cream frosting (You can also use cream cheese frosting.)

Decorations

Instructions

Video

Notes

How to store them:

Nutrition