Individual Strawberry Cheesecake pots

There are so many individual desserts you can buy these days, but don’t forget you can make them too! These are perfect for picnics because all you need is a spoon.

I made these in little 250ml disposable plastic tubs and covered them with clingfilm, but if you have mini pots with their own lids, even better. They will keep for a couple of days in the fridge, either with or without the strawberries on top so are also a good make-ahead option.

I looked at a lot of cheesecake recipes and took the elements I liked from a few. You don’t need to use a setting agent if you don’t think you will need one: I only used one because the desserts needed to go in the car and I didn’t want any mishaps.

While this couldn’t be classed as a healthy dessert, I tried to keep it as healthy as possible! You could easily reduce the amount of biscuit base if you like a smaller ratio of biscuit to filling. It’s not really possible to compress the biscuit base properly in a plastic pot so the base will be more crumbly than hard unless you want to increase the amount of butter by quite a bit.

This recipe makes 10 mini 250ml pots and you might even have a tiny bit left over to use as a taster…

Recipe

Ingredients

200g light (lower fat) digestive biscuits

50g butter

250g mascarpone

250g 0% fat Greek yogurt

250g double cream

3-4 tablespoons caster sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons of powdered gelatin or agar-agar if required

Around 500g strawberries to decorate

Method

Put the digestive biscuits into a large plastic bag and crush carefully with a rolling pin, taking care not to puncture the bag.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the biscuit crumbs. Mix well.

Divide the mixture equally between the pots and press down the base as much as possible. I used the scales to make sure that each pot got an equal amount (25g each).

Mix the mascarpone and greek yogurt in a bowl.

Whip the double cream until soft peak stage.

Combine the mascarpone mixture with the cream and add the sugar. Mix well but take care not to overwork the cream. If you are not using a gelling agent, add the lemon juice at this stage. It’s a good idea to give the mixture a quick taste at this stage as you may wish to add more sugar: I deliberately made these less sweet than a lot of cheesecakes.

Otherwise put the lemon juice into a small heatproof bowl and sprinkle over the powdered gelatin. Heat over a small saucepan of simmering water until the gelatin dissolves. If using a different gelling agent follow the instructions for use.

Allow the lemon mixture to cool a little and then mix in a tablespoon of the cheese mixture. Then add it to the rest of the cheese mixture and mix well.

Divide the mixture equally between the pots (again I used the scales), and level, taking care not to pull up the biscuit base.

Cheesecake pots ready for strawberry topping

Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate to allow to set.

Wash, hull and slice the strawberries. Use to decorate the tops of the pots and cover with clingfilm. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Individual Strawberry Cheesecakes

I made these for Sports Day – well done, kiddies – a lovely summery dessert for a lazing on a blanket on a summer’s afternoon while someone else does all the work. Enjoy!

Categories: Baking, Desserts, Fruit, Recipes

Tags: baking, cheesecake, cheesecake pots, cream, cream cheese, digestive biscuits, fruit, greek yogurt, individual cheesecakes, parties, picnics, recipe, seasonal cooking, strawberry cheesecake, yogurt