cheesecake jars

Pulling together a recipe index for the blog I realised it’s been a bit light on dessert recipes. So, in the interest of balance I thought I would share this fab little recipe for a quick pudding. These cheesecake jars take about 5 minutes to throw together. Once you’ve got the base you can vary your toppings and flavours to suit your mood. They taste fantastic and, as desserts go, are relatively low sugar. What more could you ask for?

​Whilst I’ve called these cheesecake jars feel free to use glasses, small bowls, cappuccino size cups or whatever else you have to hand. Having only experienced cheesecake as something you slice into or make into individual cakes, I first came across the idea of ‘deconstructed’ cheesecakes at the Wensleydale dairy café. In their version there was crumbed ginger nut biscuits and a cheesecake topping which was a mix of soft cheese and crumbled Wensleydale. I don’t remember much else about it other than it tasted brilliant. My version uses mascarpone rather than Wensleydale, giving it a creamy, smooth texture.

​Ingredients (serves 4)
Cheesecake:
1 250g tub mascarpone cheese
Juice and zest of one lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp maple syrup
Base:
6 tbsp granola
Topping:
Fruit of choice, dark chocolate, stem ginger 

Method:
Mix the cheese, lemon juice and zest, syrup and vanilla extract together until combined and smooth.
Sprinkle 1 tbsp granola in each jar (you could try my buckwheat granola – it works really well here).
Add the cheesecake mix, sharing evenly between jars.
Top with fruit of choice, chocolate (if desired) and remaining granola.

Variations:

• Replace lemon with lime and mix 20g chopped dark chocolate and two balls of chopped stem ginger into the cheesecake mix for a variation on a key lime flavour.
• Add lemon curd instead of fruit and chocolate for a more intense lemon cheesecake.