No bake mini plum cheesecake
I’ve had this recipe for no bake mini plum cheesecake for quite a while and somehow it got placed at the bottom of my “to cook” list. Till I spotted some really nice plums at my grocers and I just couldn’t resist. For me, cheesecake is a typical Summer dessert which I love. The problem is that both me and the boyfriend are not an everyday dessert kind of people. Some days we feel like it, some days we don’t. And if I make a full size cheesecake we might take a while to get through it and the whole thing might go off before we finish it. So I end up always modifying the recipes into individual portions. Like this I don’t make such a big quantity and we don’t have so much wastage. Works for us 🙂 In this case the recipe is for 12 portions and still I cut it in half to 6 portions. See what I mean?
Plums
I mentioned before that I grew up in the country side in the south of Portugal. My granddad had a small property where we had a few animals, vegetables and fruit trees. Nothing in a large scale, just enough for the family. The majority of the land had orange trees which is very popular in that part of the country. But we also had other varieties depending on the season, like apples, pears, apricots, peaches, figs, plums… Growing up, I don’t remember buying fruit from the supermarket very often, but I do remember climbing the trees to get to the best fruit at the top 🙂 If the season was a good one we would make desserts and jams so that we wouldn’t have any wastage. I miss my fruit trees!
Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. In season from May to October, plums should be plump and well colored, depending on the variety. To determine ripeness, look for a fruit that yields to a gentle pressure. Ripe plums will be slightly soft at the stem and tip, but watch out for shriveled skin, mushy spots, or breaks in the skin. Avoid purchasing very hard plums as they will be difficult to ripen and they will not increase in sweetness. You can buy plums that are fairly firm and allow them to ripen at home in a loosely closed paper bag at room temperature for a day or two. Once softened, transfer them to the refrigerator. Ripe plums can be refrigerated for up to three days.
No bake mini plum cheesecake
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 140 g digestive cookies such as Morning Coffee or Graham Crackers
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter melted
For the cheesecake:
- 340 g cream cheese at room temperature
- 1/2 cup 100g granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup 180g heavy cream
- 1 plum blended into a smooth pure
For topping:
- 142 g plums peeled, hulled and chopped
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
Instructions
For the crust:
- Grease the mini cheesecake pans. Place the cookies in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add in the melted butter and pulse until well mixed. Divide the mixture among the cheesecake pans, about 1 heaping tablespoon in each. Firmly press into the bottom of each cavity (a shot glass or other small object makes easy work of this). Place it in the fridge to firm up the crust.
For the cheesecake:
- In the bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium-high speed until creamy and well combined. Add in the cream and the plum pure. Continue beating until well combined and thickened. Divide the mixture among each cheesecake pan and cover with plastic wrap.
- Chill until firm, at least 4 hours or overnight.
For the topping:
- Combine the plums and sugar on food processor and pulse until pureed. Top each cheesecake with a dollop of the sauce.
- Place it back in the fridge till serving time.
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