Eton Mess Mini Cheesecakes

I was recently asked by the lovely Hani hanielas.blogspot.com if I would like to take part in a bloggers recipe gathering, YES please was my reply!

The theme is Berrylicious, the idea, to come up with a new recipe using berries of some type. Well with summer on it’s way (she says typing away while the rain lashes down outside!) this seemed perfect!

We all love summer berries here, I grow a small selection in the garden, they usually don’t make it indoors if I’m honest! I made these little morsels expecting a fairly good response from Frey & Gav…….well they were devoured very quickly, I had to hide some in the fridge for fear I would never get one to try!

The instructions may look longwinded, but they’re really not, and definitely worth a try. I used silicon cupcake cases, they’re first outing as it goes! They were a little fiddly to turn out but almost turning the cases inside out worked well and I didn’t drop one (oh alright just the one!)

Eton Mess Mini Cheesecakes

Crunchy Base Bit

50g Amaretti biscuits, crushed

100g digestive biscuits, cruched

50g melted butter

Middle & top bit

1 tbsp cornflour

1 tbsp caster sugar

Zest & juice of 1 lemon

About 50g Meringues (homemade or brought) broken up

100ml whipping cream whipped

125g cream cheese (I used Philadelphia)

140g berries this will be used for the topping & sauce too (I used raspberries & blueberries, but you could use strawberries, blackberries, redcurrants whatever you fancy)

When serving you’ll also need:

50ml whipped cream whipped

A little sugar & lemon juice

Makes 10 cupcake sized cheesecakes

Lay out 10 silicon cupcake cases in a muffin tray, you can use ordinary paper cupcake cases, but I wanted to remove them and it was easier with silicon.

Crunchy base bit

Put the crushed biscuits into a bowl add the melted butter and mix, press the mixture equally into the cases. Chill in the fridge (the bases not you!)

Middle bit

In a small saucepan combine the lemon juice & zest with the cornflour & caster sugar. Heat gently stirring all the time until the mixture thickens.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Then beat in the cream cheese and whipped cream. Stir through about half of the crushed meringue and a third of the fruit (chopped if the berries are large).

Spoon this on top of the biscuit base of each cupcake case and chill again.

Topping bit

Place half of the remaining fruit in a saucepan with a little sugar and a squirt of lemon juice, heat gently stirring & mashing with a fork until the fruit if soft and pulpy. Push the fruit mix through a sieve and use the puree to drizzle over your cheesecakes when serving.

When you are serving the little cheesecakes add a dollop of cream some crushed meringue and some of the remaining fruit and a little drizzle of fruit sauce.

Below is a collage of all the participating bloggers treats with the links to go and check them out and say Hi!

1. Joan, Chocolate Chocolate and More– Lemon Blueberry Pound cake

2. Charity, Foodlets– Strawberry – Strawberry banana frozen yogurt pops

3. Jamie, Green Beans & Grapefruit– Mixed Berry & Cookie Butter Clafouti

4. Hani, Haniela’s– Red Currant Meringue Cake

5. Katrina, In Katrina’s Kitchen– Frozen Blueberry Basil Lemonade Pies

6. Sue, Munchkin Munchies– English Matrimonials

7. Bia, Rich and Sweet– Blueberry Blackberry Orange Streusel Scones

8. Sam, Sams Kitchen– Eton Mess Mini Cheesecakes

9. Sherron, Simply Gourmet Photography– Mulberry Syrup

10. Ann, Sumptuous Spoonfuls – Strawberry Chia Jam

11. Karen, Trilogy Edibles – Meringue Nest with a Bumbleberry Compote