Tell me if these mini strawberry cheesecakes are not just super cute? After a long winter full of colds, that have emptied my body and soul, as soon as I saw some strawberries at the market I decided that spring has officialy began. It does not matter if it is only about 10 degrees (°C) in the morning. I have pulled out my spring coat and I am officially convinced that I am right and the thermometer is not. These delightful cheesecakes are the reflection of my mood in both presentation and flavor.
For the pastry I used an old recipe that I often use (I think it is Maestro Montersino’s recipe) with a pinch of salt that breaks the sweet and velvety taste of the cream cheese filling. This time I created the filling using gelatin sheets and whipping cream together with the mix of cream cheese, white chocolate and lemon zest to create this very delicate and spreadable consistency. The cheesecake part is covered with fresh and sweet strawberry gelèe thet is perfect for this dessert.
For this mini strawberry cheesecakes recipe I used silicone mould Kit Mini Tarte Twist made by Silikomart.
Prepare the strawberry gelée the night before. Blend your strawberries and pass them through a fine sieve to eliminate the seeds (optional step). Soak the gelatin in cold water for 10 minutes.
Take about half of the strawberries, add sugar and lemon juice and stir. Pour into the saucepan and bring to a boil while stirring often. Turn off the heat and add squeezed gelatin. Stir to make it melt completely. Add this mixture into uncooked strawberies and mix well then pour into a silicone mould. Place in the refrigerator to make it become firm then place the mould in the freezer to freeze the gelée completely.
Instructions for the crust
Place flour, soft butter, icing sugar and a pinch of salt in a blender with blade attachment or alternatively put all the ingredients in a bowl. Turn on the blender and blend briefly until the mixture becomes similar to sand. If you prepare the dough by hand just crumble the butter with your fingers together with the flour.
Add lemon zest, yolk and vanilla extract. Work briefly to mix all the ingredients. Wrap in plastic wrap, or if you try to save the World from futile plastic waste, into a small container with a lid, and place the dough in the refrigerator for half an hour minimum. I put my dough in the fridge for whole night.
The next morning, divide the mixture into five equal parts. Roll out each part to a thickness of about 3 mm. Using a slightly smaller glass than the micro perforated moulds, cut out a circle and set aside. Use the rest of the dough to create a dough strip that is high as the edge of the mould. Lay the cut strip along the edge of the micro-perforated mold and press lightly to adhere (cut out the excess pastry). Place the circle on the bottom and use your fingertips to make it match perfectly. Place in the refrigerator and proceed in this way with another 4 pieces of pastry dough.
Lay your uncooked crust shells on a completely flat baking pan covered with an air mat or with baking paper. Cook in a preheated static oven at 180 °C for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool down completely.
Instructions for mini strawberry cheesecakes
To prepare the cream cheese filling put the gelatin in cold water for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile melt white chocolate over water bath together with lemon zest, cream cheesec and milk. Mix well until all the ingredients are well blended. When the mixture is quite warm (almost hot), add squeezed gelatin and mix well to make it completely dissolve. Put aside and let it cool down.
Whip the cream until medium peaks form. Add powdered sugar and briefly whip to incorporate.
Gradually add whipping cream into the cheese mix and stir in gently with a spoon until the whipping cream is incorporated.
Fill each shell with the prepared cream. Place in the refrigerator to make it it slightly more firm.
Meanwhile, gently remove frozen gelée from the mould and place at room temperature to let it defrost slightly. Place them on the top of prepared cheesecakes. Serve your mini strawberry cheesecakes once the strawberry gelée is completely thawed.
Notes
12 hours waiting time.The nutritional values are generated automatically for indicative purposes only and are therefore not completely accurate.
This recipe is made thanks to the collaboration with Silikomart – a company specializing in the production of silicone moulds and pastry, kitchen and ice cream utensils.
Hi, Can you please tell me how much gelatin powder is equal to 5 g gelatin sheets?
Hello, it is the same. 5 g of gelatin sheets and 5 g gelatin powder, you only need to use different method to make it puff. If you are asking about US teaspoons it is an generous teaspoon of gelatin powder. 1 teaspoon of gelatin powder is 4 g. I don't know if you can read gelatin power on your gelatin. I use 240 bloom gelatin. If yours is weaker you should add a little more.
Hi, Thank you so much for your kind reply! I do weigh everything, but am new to using gelatin. I found gelatin sheets since I asked my question. My sheets are the gold, so 200 bloom. How many sheets would you recommend I use then for the gelee and how many for the cream cheese filling? Thank you so much. I am excited to try it. I have the same mold from Silikomart along with the tart rings and I do have a perforated baking mat as well. One other quick question if you don't mind: I made the recipe on the back of the Silikomart package for berry mousse. I had a little trouble releasing some of the molds with it. They were frozen overnight. Do you have any tips there for a clean release? I had no trouble with the molds when I made lemon curd. Is the gelee easy to release or should I do anything to help with this? Thank you so much! I am so glad I found you. I am in Canada and I don't know anyone who makes these and most recipes I have found are not in English so your advice is so helpful to me. :)
It should be perfect with 200 bloom but I need to know how many gramms is your sheet?
About the other question (by the way you can ask me as many questions as you like) there are some modern recipes that are more tricky. With mousse I learnt that you have to slam the mould on the counter to realese all the air bubbles or they will create air pockets. The other thing is that some recipes need more than 8 hours in the freezer. The last advide is to use latex gloves when working with frozen creams. That way you don't create a lot of heat that melts the cream. You should not have any problems with this gelee.
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Hello, it is the same. 5 g of gelatin sheets and 5 g gelatin powder, you only need to use different method to make it puff. If you are asking about US teaspoons it is an generous teaspoon of gelatin powder. 1 teaspoon of gelatin powder is 4 g. I don't know if you can read gelatin power on your gelatin. I use 240 bloom gelatin. If yours is weaker you should add a little more.
Hi, Thank you so much for your kind reply! I do weigh everything, but am new to using gelatin. I found gelatin sheets since I asked my question. My sheets are the gold, so 200 bloom. How many sheets would you recommend I use then for the gelee and how many for the cream cheese filling? Thank you so much. I am excited to try it. I have the same mold from Silikomart along with the tart rings and I do have a perforated baking mat as well. One other quick question if you don't mind: I made the recipe on the back of the Silikomart package for berry mousse. I had a little trouble releasing some of the molds with it. They were frozen overnight. Do you have any tips there for a clean release? I had no trouble with the molds when I made lemon curd. Is the gelee easy to release or should I do anything to help with this? Thank you so much! I am so glad I found you. I am in Canada and I don't know anyone who makes these and most recipes I have found are not in English so your advice is so helpful to me. :)
It should be perfect with 200 bloom but I need to know how many gramms is your sheet?
About the other question (by the way you can ask me as many questions as you like) there are some modern recipes that are more tricky. With mousse I learnt that you have to slam the mould on the counter to realese all the air bubbles or they will create air pockets. The other thing is that some recipes need more than 8 hours in the freezer. The last advide is to use latex gloves when working with frozen creams. That way you don't create a lot of heat that melts the cream. You should not have any problems with this gelee.