This year in my Foods and Nutrition class, my team and I made a large variety of things. However, the best in my opinion was our mini fruit tart cheesecakes.

The full lab went very well and the cheesecakes turned out nearly perfect. Despite having a short amount of time to make them and only letting them sit in the fridge for an hour before serving them, they tasted amazing, had a great consistency, and were overall a success.

Something I learned from this that could help keep others from making mistakes is that a spoon or even your fingers work the best for pressing the crust into each of the liners. In the corner of the picture below, you can see that we also spilled the lime syrup. We had a lot of extra even after spilling it, although I would still recommend setting it in a safer place than we did in order to avoid wasting any. It comes out very quickly, as well, but we found out that everyone enjoyed the extra bit of sour with the sweet cheesecake base.

I may be biased, but I would give this recipe a solid 9.5 with a 10 being high. It has a perfect balance of sweetness and tartness, and combined with the berries and crust it’s delicious. I have always loved cheesecake, although this specific recipe is by far one of my favorites. It’s a very quick easy recipe and works great as a snack or dessert.

Author: Dorothy Kern

Serving size: 24 cheesecakes

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

– 2 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs

– 6 tbsp brown sugar

– 10 tbsp unsalted butter

For the Cheesecake:

– 16 oz cream cheese softened

– 1/2 c sour cream room temperature

– 2 eggs

– 1/2 c white sugar

– 2 tsp vanilla extract

For the Topping:

– 1/2 c lime juice

– 1/2 c granulated sugar

– 1/2 tsp corn starch

– 4 c assorted berries

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF and line 24 muffin cup holes with liners

2. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and melted butter. Press about 2-2 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture into the bottom of each muffin liner (a spoon or small shot glass works best)

3. Beat room temperature cream cheese with a hand mixer until fluffy. Beat in room temperature sour cream. Beat in egg, sugar, and vanilla extract until (mostly) no lumps remain. If you’d like more flavor you can use vanilla bean paste over vanilla extract.

4. Evenly divide (about 2-2 1/2 tbsp each) cheesecake among crusts. Bake for 18-20 minutes  until they just begin to brown. Cool completely and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

5. To make the topping, place the lime juice, sugar, and cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until it boils, then cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. It will thicken as it cools.

6. Assemble the cheesecakes close to serving time. Brush the top of each cheesecake with a bit of the lime syrup (my team coated the top with a thin layer). Place berries on top and brush the berries with more syrup. Chill until ready to serve. The fruit is best added the same day as serving.

7. Store loosely covered in refrigerator. Cheesecakes will last up to 4 days in refrigerator or can be frozen for up to one month. Once you add the fruit, eat within the day.