Mini Blackberry Cheesecakes

Blackberry Mini Cheesecakes - a swirl of fresh blackberry puree in a creamy cheesecake on top of the buttery graham cracker crust. Super easy to serve as there's no need for slicing a cheesecake!

Blackberry mini cheesecakes are OUTRAGEOUSLY good, use a ton of blackberries (both fresh and cooked), and have a wildly different spin on blackberry dessert - blackberries inside and out! What a simple and perfect summer treat.

If you love a cheesecake, but don't need an entire cheesecake or don't like to cut it into slices, try these beautiful mini cheesecakes instead.

Why you'll love these

• Did you know you can bake an ENTIRE cheesecake in a muffin pan? Make sure you use a standard 12-count muffin pan and never look back.
• Serving is also less messy, as there's no need for slicing.
• Portion Control and zero guilt! For those who want to indulge in cheesecake without overindulging, you can savor these mini cheesecakes without feeling like you've eaten too much.
• Great for parties as individual grab and go portions.
• Pretty and delicious make-ahead dessert.

Ingredients you need and why

• Blackberries: Feel free to use fresh or frozen berries, but I did use 12 fresh blackberries to decorate the top of the mini cheesecakes.
• Bricks of Cream Cheese: The firmer texture and higher fat content of cream cheese blocks make them perfect for mini cheesecakes where we want a creamy and thick consistency. Cream cheese has to be at room temperature for best results.
• Sugar: You will be using granulated sugar.
• Graham Cracker crust: I love using graham crackers in cheesecake recipes - they add sweet, buttery, and slightly salty taste that complements the richness of the cheesecake.
• Butter: Make sure to use unsalted butter and melt it.
• Greek Yogurt: I prefer yogurt to sour cream and always bring it to room temperature before I use it.
• Vanilla Extract: I prefer to use pure vanilla extract or paste.
• Violet Gel Icing Color: I used 10 drops of Wilton violet gel icing color. For lighter tones, start with 5 drops.
• Heavy whipping Cream: I love to use fresh heavy cream for the topping of my mini cheesecakes.
• Miscellaneous ingredients: cornstarch, all-purpose flour, eggs, Confectioners' Sugar

How to make blackberry mini cheesecakes

Prepare Blackberry Topping

1. Combine Blackberries, Sugar, and Cornstarch in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, until the juices start to release, around 8-10 minutes. Stir occasionally, smashing the berries to break them up. When the juice thickens, remove from heat.
2. Strain cooked berry mixture through a wire mesh strainer, pressing it through with the back of a spoon. Collect juice in a small bowl, scraping the bottom of the strainer to get the thickened juice. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.

Make Graham Cracker Crust

Mix up the graham cracker crust ingredients including graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. You need 8 full-sheet graham crackers for this. Firmly press a heaping tablespoon of the crust mixture into each cupcake liner. Bake the crusts for 6 minutes, to give them a good shape

Prepare cheesecake filling

The first step is to thoroughly mix Cream Cheese, Sugar, and Flour. As always, you want your cream cheese to be at room temperature so you don't end up with lumps of un-mixed cream cheese in your blackberry mini cheesecakes Don't use low-fat or non-fat cream cheese; your cheesecake won't have the right texture. Next add Yogurt, Vanilla, and Eggs.

Divide the cheesecake filling in half

Divide the cheesecake filling in half. One half will be white, the other will be violet colored. Place the white half of the filling in the muffin cups first using a heaping tablespoon of the mixture.

Add violet gel coloring to second half of the batter, and spoon the violet colored cheesecake mixture on top of the white one. Again, one tablespoon per cupcake.

Bake your blackberry cheesecakes

Bake at 300 F for 18-20 minutes. Once you turn off the oven, it's important to leave door closed for 10 minutes. Then, slightly open oven door (place a thick wooden spoon in oven door) for 15-20 minutes. Do not rush this slow cool process, because it avoids bad cracking. Remove from oven and chill in fridge.

Spoon blackberry topping on top

Once the cheesecakes are baked, spoon blackberry topping prepared in the first step onto tops of mini cheesecakes. Let chill in freezer for at least 10 minutes.

Make Blackberry Whipped Cream Topping

To make whipped cream, I prefer to use heavy cream rather than whipping cream because heavy cream holds its shape better than whipping cream does.

• Beat cold heavy cream until it thickens
• Add powdered sugar and vanilla and Violet Gel Icing Color with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. If you want the color to be lighter violet, start with 5 drops of Violet Gel Icing Color. I used 10 drops.
• Beat until the cream holds stiff peaks
• Put Whipped Cream into a piping bag and pipe it onto the mini cheesecakes with your favorite large tip, in a swirl.
• Garnish with a blackberry!

You can either pipe or spread the whipped cream on top of the chilled cheesecake.

More delicious blackberry recipes

Blackberry and Avocado Salad

Galette with Blackberries and Strawberries

Blackberry Yogurt Cake

Blackberry Tart

More berry desserts

No Bake Strawberry Pie

Berry Cream Cheese Pie

Strawberry Mini Cheesecakes

Mini Cranberry Pecan Pies