Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes

These delicious little morsels were a hit at the baby shower.  The raspberry puree added just a small amount of raspberry tanginess which nicely complimented the sweet and creamy cheesecakes and gave them a beautiful marbled look.  I loved that they came in a cupcake form, making them easy to eat!  These were not too complicated to make, but I definately suggest using a water bath while baking them.  Annie said she didn't use one on hers and didn't think it made a difference, however; I made two trial batches without the water bath and the cheesecakes fell in the middle both times.  I finally wised up and tried them with a water bath and they turned out perfectly!  It was so easy too.  All I did was put some water in a cake pan and placed the muffin tin over that.  Easy schmeezy.  So try them out.  If you like cheesecake, you'll love these!


Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes
from Annie's Eats

Yield 32 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
4 TBSP unsalted butter, melted
3 TBSP sugar

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

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

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar.  Stir together with a fork until well blended and all the dry ingredients are moistened.  Press 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner (a small glass works well to evenly press down on the mixture). Bake until set, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to a cooling rack.

To make the raspberry puree, combine the raspberries and sugar in a blended or food processor until smooth, the pour through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds.

To make the cheesecake, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Blend in the sugar until smooth.  Mix in the salt and vanilla.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. 

To assemble, spoon 3 tablespoons of the cheesecake batter over the crust in each cupcake liner (once all the cupcake liners were full I rapped the pan on the counter to get them nice and smooth ).  Dot a 1/2 tsp of the raspberry puree in a few dots over the cheesecake filling.  Use a toothpick or a wooden skewer to create a marbled effect. 

Fill a cake pan with about 1/2 inch of water.  Place the cupcake pan over this and set in the oven.  Bake until the filling is set, about 22 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  (They will be puffy initially but will return to normal quickly).  Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool to room temperature.  Transfer to the refrigerator and let chill for a least 4 hours before serving.