Simple strawberry swirl cheesecake cups (Wendy's birthday)

This is a seriously simple one. They are made for another dear friend, Wendy's, birthday. I have tried baking complicated cakes for birthday and I always end up making silly mistakes and last minute messes. So this time, I decided I will make this simple, fuss-free, almost fail-proof cheesecake cups.

 

I got so laid-back, that I didn't even want to go through the hassle of making the base for the cheesecake cups. I just place one oreo cookie at the bottom, pour in the cream cheese batter and bake. But I did make the effort of creating these beautiful swirls using some syrups I whipped up using strawberries and blackberries.  

 

Taking a sneak peep at the cheesecakes

Mom kindly entertained and cared for Josh when I made these.

Recipe (modified from here)
Makes 7 cupcakes in square liners

For the crust: 7 Oreo cookies

For the strawberry and blackberry swirl

• Handful of strawberry and/or blackberry (I used frozen ones)
• 1tbsp icing sugar

Heat up all ingredients in a pan until the berries turn soft and the sugar has melted. Pass the mixture through a fine mesh to obtain the syrup.

For the cheesecake

• 250g cream cheese, at room temperature, cut into small cubes
• 200g sugar**
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large eggs, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 160deg C (fan forced).

 

Beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy.  Blend in the sugar until smooth.  Mix in salt and vanilla.  Beat in the egg, mixing well.

 

Place one oreo cookie on each cupcake liner. Then put in about 2-3tbsp of the cheesecake batter over the oreo cookie. Make 3 dots of strawberry/blackberry syrup over the cheesecake batter. Use a toothpick to lightly swirl and create the marbled effect.

 

*Take note that the cheesecake will puff up to create a beautiful dome when in the oven and will sink slightly after cooled.

**I have already greatly reduced the amount of sugar, I still felt that it turned out sweet. But I had good reviews over them, even my friends who are constantly on a diet, they finished eating them. So I guessed they liked them.

 

This is another simple keeper recipe for cheesecakes. But I may reduce the sugar to 150g in future. If you don't have any berries at home, you may create the swirl using melted chocolate.