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Lemon Cheesecake Cupcakes

Why haven’t I thought of this before? Individual servings of creamy and tangy lemon cheesecake. But most importantly, why haven’t I seen these before? Someone must have discovered cheesecake cupcakes decades ago, right? So, even though I have zillion cookbooks, flip through jillion food magazines and read gazillion food blogs, why don’t I remember seeing cheesecake cupcakes before?

Has the time come? Am I so over saturated with images of food that I don’t really see what I’m looking at anymore?

Or is it just about turning the right page (or clicking the right link) at the right time?

When I saw the individual cheesecakes recipe in delicious. magazine’s June 2009 issue, I didn’t just mark the page and continued reading. I opened the fridge door and checked if I had cream cheese. Luckily, I did. I also had fresh mulberries from my father’s garden. Perfect!

The beauty of this recipe is that you don’t need to go through the process of a water bath, which is quite scary especially for cheesecake virgins.

Believe me, it is very hard to screw up with this recipe. And even if you do, don’t forget: Combination of berries and powdered sugar is the best concealer known to the home baker.

I love it when I get to salvage leftovers from a previous baking adventure. Once in a while, I bake more cookies than I can eat.

OK, all the time. Since I am against trashing anything edible, I always freeze them and wait for a recipe to come by.

Mini Lemon Cheesecakes

Thanks to this lemon cheesecake cupcakes, there opened some space to be filled in my freezer. Maybe a batch of pomegranate frozen yogurt? Oh yeah.

LEMON CHEESECAKE CUPCAKES

Recipe adapted from delicious. magazine’s June 2009 issue

Makes 12 lemon cheesecake cupcakes

Ingredients

Cookie base:

  • 3+1/2 oz (100 gr) gingersnap (or shortbread) cookies
  • 2 oz (55 gr) ground almonds
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 3 tbsp butter, melted

Filling:

Important: For a creamy consistency, make sure that all the ingredients below are at room temperature.

  • 1 lb. cream cheese
  • 3+1/2 oz heavy cream (or sour cream)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 5 oz mulberries (or any kind of berry)
  • 2 tbsp powdered sugar

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 325F.
  2. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with muffin cases and set aside.
  3. Crush the cookies to fine crumbs and mix with ground almonds, sugar and melted butter.
  4. Press 1 heaped tablespoon of mixture into the base of each muffin case and place in the refrigerator to chill.
  5. Beat the cream cheese, heavy cream and sugar in a mixer until light and fluffy.
  6. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon zest, beating well after each addition.
  7. Rap the mixer bowl hard on your counter to knock out the air bubbles trapped inside the filling.
  8. Spoon the mixture over the cookie bases 3/4 full.
  9. Press three mulberries into the filling and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cheesecakes are puffed and starting to color.
  10. Cool, then chill until ready to eat.
  11. Decorate each cheesecake with more mulberries and dust with powdered sugar to serve.

September 1, 2009 · 61 Comments Categories: Cakes, Cheesecake Tags: cheesecake recipe, lemon, lemon cheesecake, lemon cheesecake recipe

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. The Purple Foodie

    September 1, 2009 at 6:23 pm

    Cheesecake is something very hard for me to share. And to add to that, home grown mulberries? That just makes this so much more endearing.

    Reply
  2. Tony

    September 1, 2009 at 6:38 pm

    they look wonderful, Cenk! I make similar tiny cheesecakes flavored with orange zest & orange liquor on a chocolate cookie crust and freeze them for an ice cream-like dessert.
    btw, I’m already starting to see pomegranates in the markets around here – I can’t wait to see what you make with them this year!

    Reply
  3. The Hungry Mouse

    September 1, 2009 at 6:46 pm

    Oh. My. Goodness.

    This is brilliant. And there’s something to be said for a well-stocked larder. Cheesecake on demand? Yes, please!

    +Jessie

    Reply
  4. Phoo-D

    September 1, 2009 at 7:01 pm

    The combination of lemons and ginger cookies has me swooning! This looks divine.

    Reply
  5. Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy

    September 1, 2009 at 8:14 pm

    Dang, that IS a good idea. I guess the rest of us are sleeping on the job 🙂 I want to try this, if for anything because it doesn’t call for a graham cracker crust which is difficult to come by in Italy! I love mini!

    Reply
  6. Irene

    September 1, 2009 at 9:26 pm

    It’s genius! I’m totally drooling. I want one (two… five…) right now! This looks gorgeous for a dessert table.

    Reply
  7. rose

    September 1, 2009 at 10:35 pm

    Nicely done! I’ve found this is the best way to do cheesecakes as a whole one is messy to serve sometimes. 🙂 I use a small glass spice jar to press the crust into the cupcake papers!

    Reply
  8. lululu

    September 1, 2009 at 10:45 pm

    i’ve made cheesecake a lot, but never tried cheesecake cupcake.
    it might sound a bit too much for breakfast, but i’d definitely hv 1 maybe 2 for my breakfast!

    Reply
  9. lisa (dandysugar)

    September 2, 2009 at 12:46 am

    Cheesecake cupcakes are a fantastic idea. Desserts that come in small sizes always seem to taste even better! The mulberries sound absolutely delicious.

    Reply
  10. patsyk

    September 2, 2009 at 1:33 am

    I’ve seen them before, but couldn’t tell you where! Fabulous way to enjoy cheesecake. This recipe looks doable no matter your baking experience.

    Reply
  11. Dorothy T

    September 2, 2009 at 2:24 pm

    I’m surprised that you haven’t seen individual cheesecakes before. Paula Deen, Pampered Chef & others have recipes in cupcake & mini-muffin sizes. Try putting a whole vanilla wafer in the bottom for your crust – so easy! Happy baking.

    Reply
  12. Patricia Scarpin

    September 2, 2009 at 4:20 pm

    Cenk, these are fantastic. Nothing gets my attention like lemon, and if it’s paired with berries, I’m in heaven.

    Reply
  13. Soma

    September 2, 2009 at 6:10 pm

    I belong to that uncommon group who is not fond of cheese cakes. But I haven’t seen anything as pretty as these before. Love the cookie base & the berries.

    Reply
  14. Britta

    September 2, 2009 at 6:21 pm

    These are beautiful and remind me of one of my favorite treats to bake when I was about 10…early 1980’s. I used Nilla wafers for the crust, made cheesecake base with almond extract and topped them with (Gasp!) canned cherry pie filling! They were so red and glossy and utterly beautiful-oh delicious too! I think my adult palatte would much prefer the taste of yours. Especially the mulberries.

    Reply
  15. Rachel

    September 2, 2009 at 8:49 pm

    Yes, individual cheesecakes were incredibly popular (at least in the US) in the late 1980s and early-to-mid 1990s. they were everywhere! I think the trend got so huge, then burnt itself out, and that’s why you don’t see them in your current crop of books, or in the blogosphere.
    But that doesn’t change the fact that they are tasty and practical (they were popular for a reason!) and I have never tried them with mulberries!

    Reply
  16. rebeccasubbiah

    September 3, 2009 at 12:58 am

    wow these look fab I love your site

    Reply
  17. HoneyB

    September 3, 2009 at 1:08 am

    These are gorgeous!

    Reply
  18. heidileon

    September 3, 2009 at 1:57 am

    one of the most beautiful individual cheesecakes that I’ve seen lately

    Reply
  19. Cakelaw

    September 3, 2009 at 2:59 am

    These look delightful!

    Reply
  20. doodles

    September 3, 2009 at 3:04 am

    first time visitor here and will surely return……..we do a lot of brunches for lazy Sundays so individual anything is perfect and these jewels will be making a Sunday appearance soon……thanks

    Reply
  21. Bakerybookery

    September 3, 2009 at 4:01 am

    If only I had cream cheese in the fridge!! Individual cheesecakes certainly seem to be having a resurgence in Sydney cafes of late but I love your home baked variety – and especially your way with left over biscuits! Ginger and lemon, together at last!
    Georgia

    Reply
  22. Sam@BingeNYC

    September 3, 2009 at 5:11 pm

    Ahhh, lemon cheesecake, swoon. These are gorgeous!!!

    Reply
  23. Glenn

    September 3, 2009 at 7:54 pm

    Another winner. Thanks Cafe “F”.

    Reply
  24. Matt

    September 3, 2009 at 9:40 pm

    These were delicious !

    I already had 3 going for another =)

    Great recipe !

    Thanks!

    Reply
  25. Joumana

    September 4, 2009 at 3:24 am

    Great photo! Hey, do you guys in Turkey make mulberry syrup?
    I sure wish I had brought mine from Lebanon this summer!

    Reply
  26. lirit

    September 4, 2009 at 4:18 am

    I’m with Soma…I don’t usually like cheesecake at all–far too heavy for my taste. But I LOVE lemon and I LOVE berries, so I feel that despite my anti-cheesecake stance, these look lovely!

    Reply
  27. ABowlOfMush

    September 5, 2009 at 4:40 am

    These are the most attractive little cheesecakes I’ve ever seen! Wow!

    Reply
  28. Lucy

    September 5, 2009 at 6:53 pm

    Oh my these look beautiful! What pretty little treats – plus I love the simplicity of the recipe 🙂

    Reply
  29. joey

    September 9, 2009 at 11:51 am

    Oh these look just perfect Cenk! I can never have a whole big slice of cheesecake and these cupcakes (with the fresh berries!) are calling my name!

    Reply
  30. pigpigscorner

    September 10, 2009 at 1:31 pm

    Great idea! They look so cute!

    Reply
  31. Roxbury23

    September 14, 2009 at 3:20 am

    I don’t know if I did it right exactly (I’m pretty amateur in the kitchen, but I’m working on it!) but I had twice as much filling as I did crust… I was able to make almost 2 dozen with the filling this recipe calls for… any tips?

    Reply
    • Cenk

      September 14, 2009 at 12:54 pm

      Roxbury23 – I really don’t know why that happened. Maybe your muffin cases were smaller?

      Reply
  32. Mrs Ergül

    September 18, 2009 at 9:43 am

    These are absolutely adorable!

    Is it a Turkish thing about not trashing anything edible? Cuz my husband is exactly the same!

    Reply
    • Cenk

      September 18, 2009 at 10:11 pm

      Mrs. Ergül – I’m not so sure. I have seen many Turkish people trashing lots of edible things 🙂

      Reply
  33. sibel

    September 27, 2009 at 7:49 am

    What an amazing recipe! This is the first recipe I tried and it turned out perfectly. Great blog.

    Reply
  34. Kimberly

    September 29, 2009 at 5:29 am

    My mom used to make cheesecake cupcakes when I was little. I think it was in some Pillsbury cookbook in the early eighties. This makes me nostalgic just looking at it… I’ll have to make these for sure!

    Reply
  35. kez

    December 4, 2009 at 4:49 pm

    oh my goodness, these were bliss. I made them with crumbled scotch finger biscuits and fresh raspberries. The berries swirled beautifully into the cheesecake and made them look and taste so divine that no one guessed how simple they were to make! Perfect for impressing company at short notice.

    Reply
    • Cenk

      December 6, 2009 at 11:38 pm

      kez – So happy to hear you liked them. Bon appetit!

      Reply
  36. debbie Mckee

    January 12, 2010 at 11:16 pm

    hi I want to make cheesecake cupcakes for my daugthers wedding this August ,Any ideas?

    Reply
  37. Zeynep

    July 16, 2010 at 1:16 pm

    Hi Cenk
    Just found your blog and looks amazing. Delicious recipies and mouthwatering photos. One question, what would you use as a substitute for the heavy cream in this recipe, for Turkey? I guess we just have the regular “krema” that is quite runny..

    Reply
    • Cenk

      July 17, 2010 at 2:01 pm

      Zeynep – The closest you can find is krema. Try Pınar’s, which is without any stabilizers and additives.

      Reply
  38. Mia

    July 23, 2010 at 8:17 am

    i cannot wait to try these! these look amazing!!just a question, you use a cupcake tin right? because in the directions it says muffin tin..and those are tiny! and also, when you press the berries into the individual cupcakes, will they automatically swirl into the cheesecake mix or will they be whole berries still by the time theyre done baking? thanks for this recipe!!

    Reply
    • Cenk

      July 23, 2010 at 11:16 am

      Mia – Actually, I’ve used a muffin tin. Maybe they look small in the photos, but they were baked in a standard 12-cup muffin tin. The berries I’ve used were very soft so they did swirl into the cheesecake mix. Hope you like the recipe.

      Reply
  39. Mia

    July 28, 2010 at 7:28 am

    okay, thanks! also, do you know of any way to prevent freshly cut fruit from leaking onto the cupcake? i’ve tried to put cut up strawberries on top of cupcakes/frosting before, but they’ve always ended up leaking and making the frosting runny or the cake soggy. I know it might help if i leave the entire strawberry on top without cutting it, but is there any way to prevent a cut-up piece from leaking? i’ve tried powdered sugar, but it doesnt work..

    Reply
    • Cenk

      July 28, 2010 at 12:06 pm

      Mia – You might want to try glazing them with a transparent jelly. That creates a beautiful shine and a protective crust of some sort so that the fruit doesn’t wilt too quickly and stain the frosting. Hope this helps.

      Reply
  40. Lucy T.

    August 18, 2010 at 10:30 pm

    Made these as the base for a blueberry-themed dessert night. I guess I Canadianized the recipe a bit: added tons of wild blueberries from Northern Ontario and a few blackberries for good measure. And used some of my homemade maple-syrup cookies as the base.

    Here’s a picture:

    http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6791773&l=cd852b9e69&id=594406001

    So yummy. Thanks so much for the recipe. Will make again very soon (I just bought blackberries at the farmer’s market, so very soon indeed!)

    Reply
  41. Lucy T.

    August 18, 2010 at 10:33 pm

    Sorry–I forgot to add that I had too much filling for 12-standard sized cupcakes. I added a bit more cream and a drizzle of honey to the extra filling and churned it in my ice cream maker. That tasted divine.

    Reply
    • Cenk

      August 19, 2010 at 1:44 pm

      Lucy T – Looks great! I am so envious of the abundance of blueberries – they are extremely expensive in Istanbul.

      Reply
  42. Lucy T.

    August 19, 2010 at 6:21 pm

    The small, wild blueberries are a little more expensive than the cultivated ones (which are very cheap at this time of year) here, but so worth it. If you’re ever visiting Quebec or Ontario, come in August so you can indulge 🙂

    Reply
  43. Heidi

    September 8, 2010 at 11:49 pm

    I’ve been following for some time but had not tried any recipes. I made these on Sunday and they were exceptionally delicious. Bravo.

    Reply
    • Cenk

      September 9, 2010 at 10:03 pm

      Heidi – Glad you liked them 🙂

      Reply
  44. De auGustibus

    November 24, 2010 at 1:05 am

    Hi, I tried these cheesecake cupcakes and I really liked them! I have even “reviewed” them in my newly born blog! in case you want to see my result (not as professional as yours..): http://deaugustibus.wordpress.com/category/desserts/cheesecakes/

    Reply
  45. leisa

    June 2, 2011 at 3:20 am

    Hi. I’d like to make these for my daughter’s class tomorrow, but I can’t find muffin tins anywhere. Just cupcake. So how would I amend this? Please help. I’ve been eyeing this recipe for MONTHS!! Very excited. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Cenk

      June 4, 2011 at 12:37 am

      Leisa – What’s the size of your tins? If they are smaller, adjust baking time accordingly. The minute they start to color, take them out of the oven.

      Reply
  46. Mia

    June 29, 2011 at 1:49 am

    I finally made these…and they tasted AMAZING! just one thing, is the cookie base supposed to be dense? they felt very dense and kind of oily..is there anything i may have done wrong or something i can change?

    Reply
    • Cenk

      June 29, 2011 at 11:26 am

      Mia – You might want to reduce the butter by half (or a bit more – until the crumbs come together), but since the batter is quite wet, the only way to get a somewhat-dry cookie base would only be possible by pre-baking them before you pour the batter. Maybe 10 minutes of pre-baking followed by another 25-30 minutes with the batter? Hope this works.

      Reply
  47. Tannie

    August 17, 2011 at 1:58 am

    I’m just baking the second batch of these. The first one was done like an hour ago, but I’ve have a question. When the recipe says that the cupcakes are ready when starts to puff and take color, it means that is when they bounce back?

    I also used cinnamon cookies instead of gingersnaps because its kinda hard to find them in México, and added 1 tpsp of honey instead of sugar for the cookie base. I can’t wait to see how they taste!

    ps. I just LOVE your blog! this is the first recipe I made and I’m planning to bake the Devil’s Food Cake for my boyfriend’s birthday. Also your photos are gorgeous. Greets from Mexico City 🙂

    Reply
    • Cenk

      August 25, 2011 at 9:18 am

      Tannie – Thanks! Sorry for the late reply. Yes, that means when they bounce back. Hope they turned out OK.

      Reply
  48. ally

    November 13, 2011 at 3:47 pm

    I have just found the greatest baking place full with unique ideas…
    tesekkur ederim… thanks god your blog exists!

    Reply
  49. maude b spears

    December 14, 2011 at 4:04 am

    cenk! they are really, really good!!!!!!! HIGH 5!! TO THE LEMON CHEESECAKE CUPCAKES

    Reply
  50. Lara

    January 26, 2013 at 11:11 pm

    Genius recipe.

    Reply

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