Raspberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

My friend Mona is a big Yelper (is that a word?). She enjoys trying out restaurants and writing reviews of them for Yelp. She has written so many reviews that she is a Yelp elitest and gets to go to special Yelp parties. Not that long ago, she posted this photo on Facebook from her review of Hannah, a neighborhood cafe in San Jose.

Mona's Cupcake at Hannah

I was very inspired by this photo and the idea of raspberry cheesecake cupcakes and came up with following recipe. Now, having never been to Hannah, let alone San Jose, I have no clue if they are anything like Hannah’s, but I think they turned out pretty good. I would like to tweak it a bit (see italics for what I would like to do differently). I would also like to try this again with blackberries. My photo clearly does not make the cupcakes look as delicious as the one Mona tried, but I found them delicious. James wasn’t the biggest fan, but I wasn’t surprised since he doesn’t like raspberries. My parents, who were visiting them, liked them.

Raspberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

Raspberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

Source: me

Cheesecake Ingredients:

• 1 pint raspberries, washed and spun dry (I think two pints would be better, but I only had one)
• 3/4 cup plus 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided (or 3/4 cup plus 2-1/2 tablespoons if using 2 pints of raspberries)
• 18 vanilla wafers
• 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 to 1-1/2 tablespoons raspberry liqueur

Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 to 1-1/2 tablespoons raspberry liqueur
• 1 to 2 teaspoons red food coloring, optional (I had planned to use, but forgot)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In small bowl, combine raspberries and 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar; set aside for 30 minutes. (If using 2 pints of raspberries, set aside the choicest 18 raspberries and combine remaining berries with 2-1/2 tablespoons with sugar.) Line muffin pans with paper liners. Place a vanilla wafer, flat side down, in each of the liners.

In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, remaining sugar, eggs, lemon juice and raspberry liqueur until light and fluffy, approximately 15 minutes. Spoon majority of batter into lined muffin cups. Add 1-2 raspberries per muffin cup (2-3 if using 2 pints), using care to not add any of the excess liquid/syrup from the raspberry bowl. Cover with remaining batter, about 1 tablespoon per muffin cup. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until set. (I would suggest not putting both baking pans in the oven at the same time, especially if one pan is dark and one is light like mine.) Remove to wire racks to cool. Refrigerate overnight.

Just prior to serving, whip frosting ingredients until stiff peaks form (I would like to try adding in the ~2 teaspoons of excess liquid/syrup from the raspberry bowl). Pipe onto cupcakes. (Top with reserved 18 choicest berries.)

Yield: 18 cupcakes