Raspberry Cheesecake... CUPCAKES!!!

To give credit where credit is due, this recipe is from Annie's Eats and I found it on Pinterest. That has been my favorite thing lately. I thought I would give a really good recipe to start with, and have pictures with it so that one day I can make a blog book of just my recipes and hand it down. Wouldn't that be cool? So here comes the bombardment of cooking!

Yield
32 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the crust:
1½ cups graham cracker crumbs (I like crust, so I used 2 cups here)
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted (6 tbsp here)
3 tbsp. sugar (and 4 tbsp here)

For the topping:
6 oz. fresh raspberries
2 tbsp. sugar

For the filling:
2 lbs. cream cheese, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature

It is very important that the eggs and cream cheese are at room temperature. The eggs being at room temperature make the filling fluffy and light rather than too dense. The cream cheese is 100 time easier to mix at room temperature. That being said, put the cream cheese in your mixer bowl first so it can get to room temperature in there rather than in the wrapper. This makes it easier to get out of the package, and it seems to warm up a bit faster. It takes about 2 to 3 hours for the cheese to warm up, unless you cheat. The eggs take about 30 minutes and there is no cheating with them. 

Preheat the oven to 325. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a small bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups graham crackers, 3 tbsp sugar, and 4 tbsp melted unsalted butter. Stir with fork until all dry ingredients are moist. Press 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake paper. I used a bottle to press the mixture firmly, any small sized cup would work as well. Bake for 5 minutes. Transfer to cooling rack.

To make the raspberry puree, combine 6 ounces of fresh raspberries with 2 tablespoons of sugar in a blender or food processor. Process until smooth, about a minute, then press through a mess sieve to remove the seeds. Using a bigger mess sieve (wire strainer) goes by a lot faster.

I just used a spoon to press the raspberry against the side of the sieve. Make sure you empty it often so it's easier for the juice to get through without the seeds in the way.

To make the cheesecake, beat the cream cheese (the stuff you let get to room temperature) on medium high speed in an electric mixer until fluffy. If you want to cheat, at least pull the cream cheese out of the fridge when you get all the ingredients out, then put the flat beater on the mixer and mix on stir making sure to stop every minute or so to scrape the sides and the beater. After about 5 minutes, change beaters to the wisk beater. Mix on medium high speed until fluffy. 

This is fluffy. It looks a little chunky, but it's definitely much smoother than a block of cream cheese.

Blend in 1 1/2 cups sugar until smooth.

This is smooth. It should feel like frosting and come off the beater easily.

Mix in a pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. I never know how much a pinch is, so I used a dash from my salt shaker. Beat the eggs in one at a time, mixing well after each one. You'll know if it's mixed well if you no longer see any yellow in the bowl. 

To assemble, first replace each cupcake liner in the cupcake pans, spoon 3 tablespoons of the cheesecake batter over the crust in each cupcake liner. I spooned the 3 tbs for the first one and used a measuring cup to pour the same amount into each of the remaining cupcake liners. Don't over do it and put more than that amount in each cupcake. If you do, the filling will double in size in the oven and cause a sunken look to your cupcakes. It all tastes the same, but its kind of disappointing when you're expecting something beautiful to happen. Stirring just the cheesecake filling inside the cupcake liner before adding the puree helps prevent this as well. Dot 1/2 teaspoon of raspberry puree in a few dots over the cheesecake filling. Use the first couple cupcakes to decide just how much puree you want to use. Use a toothpick or wooden skewer to swirl the raspberry, creating the marble look. The more raspberry you add, the less marble you will get. 

Aren't they beautiful? The more small dots of raspberry you put, the easier it is to marble. 

Bake, still at 325, until the filling is set, so about 22 minutes. Don't  worry, they're gonna be puffed up, but they'll go back to normal. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool to room temperature. Then move to the fridge and let chill for at least 4 hours before serving. 

We had these at Ivan's blessing party and they were amazing! I think next time I'll actually use all the raspberry puree on the cupcakes and care a little less about the marbling. I hope all my hints help. I found them all very useful and it made my job so much easier.