Vanilla bean and blueberry mini cheesecakes

My initial idea was to make Nigella’s peanut butter cheesecake – that was why I bought several packages of cream cheese after all. Peanut butter cheesecake with a milk chocolate glaze... Yum, yum. But I had a surprise after opening the peanut butter jar: it was almost empty; I was furious for a couple of seconds then remembered that I’d had several spoonfuls of peanut butter lately. Too many, I guess. So I went after another cheesecake recipe and found one on my currently favorite dessert bible. The blueberries were the icing on the cake (I apologize for the lame pun – I just couldn’t help it). ;)

Vanilla bean and blueberry mini cheesecakes
adapted from the wonderful Bon Appetit Desserts: The Cookbook for All Things Sweet and Wonderful

Crust:
1 cup (100g) graham cracker or digestive cookies crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
300g cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup (100g) sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds removed with the back of the knife
2 large eggs
½ cup (120ml) sour cream*
generous ½ cup fresh blueberries

Start by making the crust: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter four 1-cup (240ml) capacity mini cake pans (mine have removable bottoms).
Mix graham cracker crumbs and sugar in processor. Add melted butter; process until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture onto bottom (not sides) of prepared pans. Place pans onto a baking sheet and bake until crust is set and deep golden, 6-8 minutes. Cool crust while making filling. Maintain oven temperature.
Now, the filling: place the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla seeds, eggs and sour cream in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Divide the filling evenly among pans. Sprinkle the filling with the blueberries. Bake until set around edges, and center moves slightly when pan is gently shaken, 25-30 minutes. Cool completely over a wire rack then refrigerate uncovered for 3-4 hour or overnight. Carefully unmold and serve.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I left mine on the counter overnight – on a cold night – and it was beautifully thick and silky the next morning)

Makes 4