cheesecake in a jar

last week for Trina and Justin's surprise lunch i made little jars of cheesecake with blackberry curd for take home favors. they came out pretty awesome if i do say so myself. i would eat blackberry curd by the spoonful in front of the tv if it wasn't considered gluttonous. if you don't make this cheesecake, at the least make the blackberry curd! it would go well on toast or over ice cream, in between layers of cake or with a yogurt parfait! so good!!!

i got the recipe from this site and followed the directions to a T (except for the cook time).

cheesecake in a jar 

i portioned this in to 10 medium sized jars with the base a little bit smaller than the size of my palm

ingredients for crust:

-2 c graham cracker crumbs

-6 tbs sugar

-6 tbs melted butter

directions for crust:

1. combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter in a large bowl until all crumbs are moist. 

2. portion evenly in to jars

3. push down on crumb mixture with something flat so that they form a solid base for the cheesecake

i used a mini jam jar as my utensil 

ingredients for the cheesecake:

-40 oz cream cheese at room temp

-12 oz sugar

-5 large eggs plus 2 yolks

-2 oz milk

-3 tbs flour

-grated lemon peel from 1 lemon

directions for cheesecake:

1. preheat oven to 325 degrees F

2. begin to boil a pot/kettle water

3. in a large bowl beat cream cheese until softened 

4. slowly beat in sugar

5. beat in eggs, milk, flour and lemon peel and mix until completely smooth and well blended

6. portion the cheesecake mix into the jars with the crust

7. place jars in to a roasting pan in the oven, evenly spaced out

8. pour boiling water into the roasting pan to surround the jars. water should come about 1" short from the top of the jars

9. bake for 30 minutes or until the edges are slightly firm and the middles are still slightly jiggly (i baked mine for quite a bit longer)

10. remove from oven and roasting pan

11. allow to cool completely

12. cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for at least an hour

ingredients for blackberry curd:

-4 cups blackberries

-1/2 c water

-1 tsp orange zest

-1 c sugar

-2 oz butter

-4 tbs cornstarch

-4 tbs cold water

directions for blackberry curd:

1. put blackberries, orange zest and water in a pot and bring to a boil

2. reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally 

3. place the blackberry mixture in to a sieve over a large bowl and press through until most of the liquid has been strained through (this is an incredibly tedious process. if you have a food mill, use it! and if you blend the berry mixture before putting it in the sieve, this will decrease your straining time. i, unfortunately didn't do either and relied on a large spoon and my arm weakness strength to get by)

4. pour berry liquid back into pot over medium heat

5. add sugar and butter

6. combine cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl

7. once combined, add to pot to whisk in with berry mixture

8. stir until thick and bubbly or to your desired consistency  (i wanted it thick enough that if i put my finger in it it would stick)

9. remove from heat and pour in to a heat safe bowl or jar

10. cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool completely

11. after completely cooling, pour over chilled cheesecakes in their prepared jars

voila! cheesecake in a jar!!