Mini No Bake Lemon Cheesecakes
These mini cheesecakes are made of graham cracker crust, cream cheese filling and topped with lemon curd. It's a simple recipe that is made by just refrigerating the filling until it is firm enough to remove from the liners.
Lemon Curd
- 3 egg yolks, from large eggs
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (70g) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter
- pinch of salt
- 2-3 teaspoons lemon zest
- In a medium non-reactive saucepan, whisk the yolks and sugar until combined.
- Add fresh lemon juice and unsalted butter to the saucepan.
- Place your saucepan on medium-low heat. Continuously whisk the lemon curd. As the temperature of the curd rises, it will thicken slightly.
- The curd is done when it coats the back of a wooden spoon thickly, or if you have an instant-read thermometer, the temperature reaches 196 °F/91 °C.
- Add pinch of salt and 2 tsp lemon zest to the warm curd and stir. If you prefer a more tart and sour curd, go ahead and add a little more of the remaining zest.
- It will seem slightly loose, but don't worry, it will thicken after it cools a bit. Cover the top surface with plastic wrap while you prepare the rest of the cheesecake.
Graham Cracker Crust
- 8 (35g) full graham crackers (or about 1 cup of crumbs)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- Place your crackers in large ziptop bag and use a rolling pin or back of a measuring cup to crush into small crumbs. You can also use your food processor.
- Pour the crumbs into a large bowl with the granulated sugar and pinch of salt and stir to combine.
- Add the melted butter to your bowl and stir until the butter is evenly distributed. Set aside while you prepare the cream cheese filling.
Cream Cheese Filling and Assembly
- 1 cup (226g/8poz) cream cheese, full fat block-style, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, cold from fridge
- blueberries (or other fruit)
- Place your cream cheese and vanilla extract in a large bowl or bowl of stand mixer. Mix on medium-high speed until combined. Add in the powdered sugar. It will be super creamy, should not have any graininess from the powdered sugar and be cream colored. (Perhaps darker depending on the brand of vanilla extract.)
- In a separate bowl, whip the cold heavy whipping cream into medium peaks. I usually do this by hand because I'm already using my mixer to make the cream cheese mixture above. It doesn't take that long either; just take a whisk and flick it from side to side in the bottom of the bowl. You'll see the cream start to get thicker in a couple minutes.
- Pour the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture and use a large spatula to fold everything together.
- Line a 12 cavity muffin pan with cupcake liners. Distribute the graham cracker crumbs between all 12 cups. Use a small cup or another muffin pan to press the crumbs down firmly.
- Pour the cream cheese filling over the graham crackers. It's fluffy mixture, so I like to use a wet spoon to smooth out the surface.
- Pour the prepared lemon curd on top.
- Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but it's really best overnight.
- Garnish with fresh blueberries.
Step by step:
Video
Read this before you begin
Measure by weight, if possible.
Measuring by weight is the best way for you to replicate my recipes. I develop recipes using ingredients (even liquids) measured in grams, which is why you see them listed first in the recipe cards. For measurements under 5 grams, I will typically only list the volumetric measurements (teaspoons, etc.), as most home scales are not precise for such small weights.
In most cases, I have converted grams to volumetric measurements (aka US customary units) for bakers who prefer this method. However, the measurements are not as precise and may have awkward proportions. The recipes should still work, but for the ultimate precision, try to use weight.
This is the OXO scale I use daily. I also purchased this budget version of a good scale, which I keep at my Mom’s house for baking. If you’re interested in other tools I use for my baking, I’ve compiled a list here.
Use room temperature ingredients.
All my ingredients should be used at room temperature, or 65-75 °F/18-24 °C. I will always indicate if you need something outside this range. If no details are given, room temperature is the default.
Pay attention to the ingredient descriptions.
I try not to be brand-specific, but I will always note an interesting result from a type of ingredient, be it negative or positive.
A specific note regarding salt: I use Diamond Crystal Kosher salt for everything on this site except for frostings. In frostings, you want the salt to dissolve more easily, and kosher salt tends to leave granules behind. If you substitute table salt (more finely granulated) for recipes that list kosher salt, you must use half the volume indicated in my recipes.
Substitutions are hard.
That’s not to say they’re impossible, though. For instance, in many cases, substituting reduced fat for whole milk (and thus reducing fat by less than 2%) will probably be fine. Using applesauce for oil or even Greek yogurt when sour cream is listed will definitely alter the fat content and adversely affect the crumb texture and density of the cake.
I experiment for hours to get these recipes to work for us. First, try to make them as written or use one of my tested substitutions, which I often dedicate a section to. Then, if necessary, you can make modifications afterward. Even then I would be pretty cautious, as substitutions are one of the hardest things to investigate in recipe development.
Read all the recipe instructions before beginning.
I’m in the “Pre-read the Chapter before Class Lecture” club... and I invite you to join! Baking new recipes can be intimidating, so let’s set you up for success. I want you to think about timeframes. Most fillings and frostings can be made ahead of time, and give you an extra day for mental space. Also, as you become a more proficient baker, you can anticipate and recognize steps. (“Oh, this has a meringue step, so I’ll need an extra clean bowl…” etc.) Ensure you go down the ingredient list and have everything at the right temperature.