Hygge holidays! If you’re looking for a seasonal recipe that’s dressed to impress, look no further than Blue Lullaby Mini Cheesecakes.
These two-toned cheesecakes are made with Big Heart Tea’s Blue Lullaby tea mixed into a portion of the batter. That ethereal blue is not an illusion — nor is it the result of traditional food coloring. Blue Lullaby contains butterfly pea flower buds, which give these cakes their all-natural blue tint.
Blue Lullaby tea doesn’t just impart color but an inimitable flavor as well. The earthy-minty taste of the tea adds a refreshing and slightly unexpected zing to the warm bear hug-combo of cheesecake and graham cracker crust — trust me, the first bite will surprise you (in a good way). You’ve never tasted cheesecake like this! These l’il minis are festive, sophisticated, and cozy as all get-out.
Best of all? You can make ‘em in less than an hour (but please do leave time for them to cool before serving).
Pair with more Blue Lullaby tea, Royal Treatmint, or Happy Tulsi.
About the author:
My name is Jessie Oleson Moore. I used to be a minor internet baking celebrity thanks to my former blog, CakeSpy. Now, I’m a freewheeling freelance writer, illustrator, and baking enthusiast. I’m also a new mom, and as such I’m particularly interested in recipes that are easy to make, easy to store, and that my kid will enjoy baking with me, enjoy eating, or both.
A few things to know about this recipe:
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Make sure to grind the tea as finely as you can before adding it to the batter. You can use a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder, or you could make due by smashing the tea with the back of a spoon.
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How much tea should you use? If you ask me, you need to use at least six bags’ worth of Blue Lullaby Tea to get a nice blue hue. If you’re feeling feisty, you can add as many as 10 tea bags’ worth (yep that’s the equivalent of a cuppa tea in each serving) to amp up the flavor. I’ve made a handy chart to help guide your decision:
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6 bags: “Subtle” 8 bags: “It’s there all right” 10 bags: “I freakin love Blue Lullaby”
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Don’t have brown sugar? You can swap out 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar. (Since granulated sugar doesn’t pack as tightly as brown sugar in a measuring cup, there’s an extra tablespoon added.)
- It’s really, really important that you let the cream cheese come to room temperature before you make the batter. If it’s too cold, the cream cheese will still have lumps no matter how long you mix it (trust me, I’ve tried it before).
Blue Lullaby Mini Cheesecakes
Makes 10 mini cheesecakes
Ingredients
Crust
- 10 whole graham crackers, crushed (roughly 1 1/2 cups)
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
- Pinch of salt
Filling
- 6-10 bags Big Heart Tea’s Blue Lullaby tea (unbrewed), removed from tea bags and very finely ground (see notes above)
- Two 8-ounce packages plain (full-fat) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- Before you start baking, grind up the tea. Remove the dry tea from the tea bags and grind in a mortar and pestle, spice grinder, or using the back of a spoon. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place 10 baking cups in a cupcake tin.
- To make the crust, stir together all of the ingredients until combined. Divide the mixture evenly among the baking cups. With the back of a spoon or your fingers, press it very firmly into each cup, making sure that it is as even and flat as possible in the cups.
- Make the batter. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the cream cheese and brown sugar until smooth and lump-free. Add the eggs and mix until smooth.
- Stop mixing. Using a spoon or a ladle, spoon a small amount of the cheesecake batter into each cup — enough to make sure it covers the crust, but not much more.
- Stir in the ground tea to the remaining batter. It will turn a lovely bluish tint. Spoon the remaining batter on top of the plain batter already in the cups, filling about 3/4 full.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until the edges of the cheesecakes are slightly golden (some jiggle in the middle is fine).
- Remove and place the tin on a wire rack for about 20 minutes to cool to room temperature. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving.
