Ube Mini-Cheesecakes
Hello from Fargo, ND! I'm gonna try to keep this post short and sweet, just like my summer break. I've been on break for about a week now, and have a little more than a week left. (I've been in school since last August. D:<)
Why am I using a snowflake Christmas plate and "let it snow" muffin liners in summer? That's just what I happened to find in my mom's cabinets. :P
I picked up a few purple yams aka "ube" at the Asian supermarket the other day and decided to try making a dessert with it. You can definitely detect the flavor of ube if you're familiar with it but it's quite subtle so you can also just think of it as natural food coloring and not mention to picky-eaters that you put a vegetable in the cheesecake.
I made the crust with gluten-free pretzels so that my step-dad Gary can try some, but you can definitely just use normal pretzels if there's no dietary restrictions in your family. The crunchy saltiness of the crust balances the sweet, creamy cheesecake filling, it's an addictive combination. However, the crust turned out very crumbly and you definitely need a spoon to eat it. If you prefer a more traditional solid crust, feel free to increase the amount of butter in the recipe to 1/2 cup.
The filling is a little bit chunky with bits of ube which I personally like, but if you prefer your filling silky smooth, feel free to strain the cheesecake mixture before pouring it into the pan. Also, note that it's very important for all your ingredients to be at room temperature before you start, so plan ahead!
Here's a photo of the cheesecakes before the final bake:
Fresh out of the oven:
All cooled and ready to eat. Happy munching!
Ube Mini-Cheesecakes
Makes 18
Ingredients:
Crust
8 oz gluten-free or regular pretzels, crushed (~ 1 ¾ cups crushed)*
2 ½ tbsp. raw sugar or granulated sugar
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted**
Filling
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup (5 oz.) whole milk Greek yogurt, room temperature
6 ½ tablespoons honey
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 medium purple yam aka “ube”, cooked and mashed (~ ¾ cup mashed)***
Preparation:
Crust
Preheat oven to 350° F
Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners
Mix together the crushed pretzels, sugar, and melted butter
Divide pretzel mixture evenly into the muffin liners, ~2 tbsp per cup
Press the down the mixture into each cup with the back of a spoon
Bake in preheated over for ~8 min or until lightly toasted
Cool on a wire rack to room temperature
Filling
Reduce oven temperature to 325° F
Whip together cream cheese, yogurt, and honey on high in a stand mixer until smooth
Whip in the eggs one at a time until evenly combined
Add about half the cream cheese batter into the mashed ube and combine with a fork
And the ube mixture into the remaining cream cheese batter and whip until well-combined****
Divide the batter evenly over the prepared crusts
Bake in preheated oven for ~15 min or the outside of each cheesecake is firm but the center is still a little jiggly
Allow to cool to room temperature on a wire rack
Cover and chill completely in a refrigerator, at least 1 hour.
Serve chilled and store leftovers in the refrigerator, up to 3 days.
*can either pulse in a food processor to crumbs or crush in a Ziploc bag with a rolling pin
**increase to ½ cup for more solid crust
***to cook: Wash, prick with fork, wrap in foil, and roast at 400° F for about 45 min until soft. Let cool to room temperature. Cut in half and scoop out flesh.
****if you’re feeling extra, strain the mixture before pouring it into the muffin pans
