Mini Blackberry Caramel Cheesecakes
These photos have been in my computer for quite some time, and quite frankly, I don’t forget about them. No, I just have to find time to write the recipe and figure out what I want to say. Originally I made these because I needed to submit a recipe to a magazine, but it turned out that they didn’t need it anymore. Because of that, I put these in the back burner. Came my accident, home remodeling, summer break, school starts, the list will never ends. For some time I can’t remember where I put the photos anymore. I’ve been searching for three to four days when they finally reappeared. They’re tucked in subfolder of a folder which I’d never have guessed have I not been curious to look into my son’s artwork folder 
It all ends well.
The recipe came from Alice Medrich’s book, Chocolate for Holidays. These are not regular cheesecakes because these were baked like creme caramels or flans. The texture was definitely very soft without being too heavy on the mouth. White chocolate was paired with blackberries which I thought was a nice combination, they were not overly sweet. I know that blackberries are not in season anymore, I apologize for that, but I guess we all could taste a bit of summer in these cheesecakes before it completely goes away to make way for autumn.
Mini Blackberry Caramel Cheesecakes
Makes 8 cheesecakes
For caramel:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
For cheesecakes:
3 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
1/8 cup boiling water
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
4 ounces ripe blackberries, rinsed and patted dry
4 five- or six-ounce ramekins or custard cups
Baking pan large enough to hold all of the cups
Directions:
- Make the caramel: In a small metal saucepan, heat the sugar and water together over medium heat. Stir it until most of the sugar dissolves. Close the pan for a minute then turn down the heat to simmer. Simmer the syrup; do not stir anymore, until it begins to color. Pay close attention to the color of the syrup, when it turns to pale amber keep an eye so it does not burn. Swirl the pan gently to even out the color if necessary. Turn off the heat once the syrup turns to slightly reddish amber color. Pour an equal quantity of syrup into each of the ramekin or custard cup. Working quickly, tilts each ramekin or custard cup to spread caramel over the bottom and halfway up the sides. Put aside the cups to cool.
- Place an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degree F. Also bring a full kettle of water to boil.
- Make the cheesecakes: Place the chopped chocolate in a small heatproof bowl, pour the boiling water over the chocolate. Stir until it melts completely. Set aside.
- Beat cream cheese in a medium bowl just until it is smooth. Scrape the bowl then add sugar and vanilla. Beat again until it is smooth about 1 to 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl again and now add the egg. Beat until the mixture is incorporated well. Stir in melted chocolate, mix it well. Arrange blackberries evenly at the bottom of the prepared ramekins or custard cups then pour cream cheese batter, evenly divided, into the cups.
- Place the cups into a baking pan and pour hot boiling water into the pan until the water reaches about 1 inch on the sides of the cups. Bake the cheesecakes about 15 minutes or until the center jiggles slightly when the cup is tapped.
- Transfer each cup carefully into a cooling rack. Let them cool completely. Cover and refrigerate overnight or longer. When ready to serve, dip each cup into a bowl with hot water for about 1 minute to loosen it. Unmold it by running a thin knife around the edges and invert it into a serving plate.
