Little Lemon Raspberry Swirl Cheesecakes

My brother in laws Mum made these over the Christmas break. Made in mini size they are just a lovely wee treat. Keep them in the freezer and defrost quickly for when guests pop in.

Ingredients:

1 cup of finely ground gingernuts (i put a whole packet through the kitchen whizz)

40gm butter (melted)

1/2 cup frozen raspberries (thawed)

2 tbspn icing sugar (it says sifted but i don't bother with that part)

375gm traditional cream cheese (blocks not tubs preferrably.)

1 cup caster sugar

3 eggs 

finely grated rind of 1 lemon (doesn't matter if this is omitted)

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Line a 12 mini muffin plan with foil cases.

2. Mix the finely ground gingernuts with the melted butter in a bowl. Use a teaspoon to put the mix in the cases then use the bottom of a shot glass to compress it down. Add more if needed and repeat the pressing. Make sure it is firm and unlikely to crumble.

3. Bake for 5 minutes then remove from the oven and reduce the oven heat to 125 degrees.

4. Mash the raspberries to a pulp in a sieve to catch the juice below. Stir the icing sugr into the juice.

5. Put the cream cheese and caster sugar in the bowl of a mixer and beat until the mixture is light, smooth and fluffy.

6. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until combined before adding the next. You may prefer to do this with a hand beater to avoid over beating.

7. Add lemon rind and vanilla.

8. Spoon the mixture over the gingernut bases.

9. Put half a teaspoon of the raspberries over the cheesecake and use a kebab skewer to swirl it around.

10. Bake for 40 - 50 minutes until just set and no longer wobbly. Open the oven door and allow the cakes to cool completely in the switched off oven. They do shrink as they cool but that is expected.

11. When the cheesecakes are completely cooled place them in their tray in the freezer. Just loosen each one first to avoid it sticking to the muffin pan.

12. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer bag or container. If stacking place a layer of baking paper between them to avoid sticking.

13. Use the cheesecakes within six weeks of freezing.

You can use any plain biscuits for the base (jaffa thins etc)

Any fruit can be used for the topping - cherries, berries etc depending on your taste.

Enjoy!!!