This was another request at work, apparently everyone loves cheesecakes. Upside of this is I’m really growing my arm muscles by mixing by hand since I don’t own a mixer. This was for a coworker’s birthday and she found a recipe online she wanted me to try. I had a lot of fun with this one.

Ingredients:

Crust

• 3/4 cup and 2ish tbsp graham cracker crumbs (apparently you can just buy the dust in the baking aisle)

• 3.5 tbsp melted butter

• 1.5 granulated sugar

Raspberry part

• 4 oz fresh raspberries

• 2 tbsp granulated sugar

Cheesecake

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour

• 16 oz cream cheese (leave out so soft, specially if you don’t have a mixer)

• 1 tsp lemon zest (this is not what I thought it was so I used concentrated lemon juice)

• 2 large eggs

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup sour cream

Prep

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F.

2. Take cupcake trays and add the paper boats

3. In a bowl mix the sugar and graham cracker for the crust

4. Add the melted butter and stir that bad boy with a fork. Make sure you can press on it and it firms up

5. Use a tablespoon to add an overfull serving to each cupcake to make the bottom. Use either a tiny hammer or your thumb to press the concoction down to make the crust coat the bottom firmly

6. Bake for 5 minutes then set to cool and wait

7. Add the raspberries and sugar to a food processor and pulse until it liquefies into a puree

8. Pour this into a wire/net strainer (like for sugar) so you can press out the juice and keep the seeds from the puree

9. Set this aside too because you won’t need it just yet.

10. In a bowl mix the sugar and flour for the cheesecake. If you’re doing this by hand, you’re really going to want that cream cheese to be soft. This is the moment your triceps will beg for you to suck it up and buy a mixer. Add the eggs one at a time to smooth things out and realize it weirdly becomes super smooth and easier to stir suddenly, assuming this is a chemical reaction to the eggs.

11. Add the lemon zest (juice) and vanilla to top things off and keep stirring until one arm grows bigger than the other. Bang the bowl on the counter and marvel as how air bubbles rise to the top to pop.

12. Pour the batter into each cupcake paper boat and stop short of filling it. This made about 15 cupcakes for me with a bunch of left over crust.

13. Pour the puree on top in little blobs that don’t coat the tops

14. Use a toothpick to swirl the top and make it pretty

15. Bake for 22 minutes. It will puff up like cupcakes and crack then shrink almost instantly like a deflated soufle. This is good and not a concern! Let it sit to cool for a while. Stick in the fridge for at least 3 hours!

Afterthoughts

These are bite sized treats that pack a punch of flavor. The cheesecake was thick and strong with the raspberry and lemon bringing in a tart bite to make the taste exciting. The graham crust gave a texture change that you won’t get in a normal cupcake. This is a great dessert for family gatherings or work groups or any gathering for people to get a taste and easy to share!