Mini Mascarpone Cheesecakes

Mini Mascarpone Cheesecakes are unique homemade cheesecake desserts, perfect for your holiday dessert buffet. Top with a single raspberry and watch them disappear.

Mini Mascarpone Cheesecakes

I make variations of these mini mascarpone cheesecakes for all sorts of events. Some with graham cracker crusts, others with chocolate cookie crusts and now these, with Biscoff crusts.

Flavored with a bit of dark chocolate, plain old vanilla, or the extract of your choice, they are two-bite, scrumptious little numbers. To jazz the mini mascarpone cheesecakes up even more, I topped them with small dollops of raspberry coulis and perfectly plump red raspberries.

But I’ve also decorated these babies with dark chocolate and white chocolate ganache crowned with colorful M & M’s. Red and green candies are perfect for Christmas, but fall colors work for Halloween and Thanksgiving or pastels for Easter. You get the picture.

Then I shook these up even more by adding some of my homemade mascarpone for an Italian flair. Plus I stripped them of their dull white paper baking suits and set them into festive holiday wrappers. To ease the removal process, freeze the mini cheesecakes, then remove the original cupcake liners. They look ready for our Progressive Eats Holiday Desserts party today, don’t they???

Tips for Making the Best Cheesecake

I have loads of cheesecake recipes on this blog, and over the years I’ve found a few key steps that will make your cheesecake the creamiest, most luscious dessert you can make. For a full-sized cheesecake, you might enjoy this Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake or the Strawberry Topped Cheesecake.  This Ganache Topped Cheesecake is to die for! And these Mini Vanilla Bean Cheesecakes are also fun individual desserts.

• First, you must get out your refrigerated ingredients 2 hours before you plan to mix them. This is especially important for the eggs and cream cheese.
• PRO-Tip: Having the ingredients at room temperature allows them to mix in smoothly. You want the cream cheese totally incorporated, with no tiny white bits in the batter.

• PRO-Tip: It’s also imperative not to over-mix the batter. So if you see white bits in your batter, resist the urge to turn your mixer on high and beat the batter to death.
• Overbeating will add air into the mixture, thus changing the texture of the cheesecake.

• PRO-Tip: If you’re using a stand mixer, always mix with the paddle attachment. It will mix your batter without adding any excess air, making a dense, creamy cheesecake.
• Add your eggs one at a time, and mix just until each is incorporated.

• To make a white chocolate version, add 2 ounces melted white chocolate and 1 1/2 teaspoons Frangelico liqueur (optional). Use Oreo or graham cracker crumbs for the crust, if desired.
• To make a chocolate version, add 2 ounces melted and slightly cooled semisweet chocolate to the batter, and consider a crust make of Oreos or Nabisco Famous Wafers. Top with a dab of ganache made with 2 ounces semisweet chocolate and 2 tablespoons heavy cream, then add a fresh raspberry or M&M to garnish.

• When I make a full sized cheesecake, I bake in a bain marie or water bath to help prevent cracking of the surface. With minis, it’s not needed as these don’t tend to crack plus the tops will be garnished!
• Feel free to garnish however you like. The toppings can be customized depending on the time of year, holidays, etc.

November’s Progressive Eats

Welcome to another edition of Progressive Eats, our virtual version of a progressive dinner party. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, a progressive dinner involves going from house to house, enjoying a different course at each location. With Progressive Eats, a theme is chosen each month, members share recipes suitable for a delicious meal or party, and you can hop from blog to blog to check them out.

We have a core group of 12 bloggers, but we will always need substitutes and if there is enough interest would consider additional groups. 

This month’s theme is Great Holiday Desserts hosted by Jenni of Pastry Chef Online. Cookies, cakes, pies and more for your holiday party planning! Jenni is the one to contact if you ever have a baking conundrum. Besides being a stupendous baker, she’s kind, generous and hilarious.

Great holiday desserts, including mini mascarpone cheesecakes:

Cakes

• Brown Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon and Caramel Sauce
• Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream Cake Roll
• Bourbon Cajeta Apple Butter Goat Cheese Cheesecake
• Mini Mascarpone Cheesecakes
• Vanilla Rum-Chocolate Chestnut Saint Honoré

Candies

• Orange and Ginger Dark Chocolate Bark

Cookies

• Pecan Tassies
• Nutella Stuffed Oatmeal Cookies (Gluten Free)

Desserts

• Warm Apple Buttermilk Custard Crisp

Pies and Tarts

• Coffee Pecan Tart
• Individual Raspberry Mascarpone Tarts (GF)
• Mini Pomegranate Ganache Tarts (GF)

You may need these items to make the mini mascarpone cheesecakes:

• Electric hand mixer (I use a 9-speed mixer from KitchenAid)
• Cooling rack
• Mini Muffin Tins

Continue to Content

Print

The Recipe: Mini Mascarpone Cheesecakes

Versatile mini mascarpone cheesecakes! Garnish to suit your whim!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Yield 20

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Biscoff cookie crumbs
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 teaspoons flour
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• Raspberry sauce, raspberries for garnish

Instructions

1. Line mini muffin tin with 20 paper liners. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 325º.
3. Mix cookie crumbs and melted butter. Place 1 teaspoon into the bottom of each lined muffin cup. Tamp it down to cover bottom of cup and to compress the crumbs. Set aside.
4. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and mascarpone in a medium bowl till smooth. Mix in sugar, then vanilla. Mix in the flour. Add egg and beat till just combined.
5. Scoop out rounded tablespoons of batter and carefully place over crusts. Smooth tops with offset spatula. Bake for 18-20 minutes till puffed, but not browned. Remove from oven to cooling rack.
6. When cool, remove cheesecakes from tin to decorate. Top each with a small dollop of raspberry sauce and one ripe raspberry. Alternatively you can make a white chocolate ganache by melting 2 ounces chopped white chocolate and 1 tablespoon heavy cream and use instead of the raspberry sauce.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

2 cheesecakes
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 224Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 59mgSodium: 158mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 1gSugar: 11gProtein: 3g

HOW MUCH DID YOU LOVE THIS RECIPE?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest