Mojito Cheesecakes

When life hands you lemons, my daughter would say "give them back and say: I want the Jonas Brothers!".
When life hand you limes, the answer is simple and a wee bit more grown-up: make mojitos! I don't often drink cocktails, haven't been for a long time, anyway, what with nursing two children and rarely getting a night off, but now that I've got my body back to myself, I can drink whatever I please... and there's going to be rather a lot of mojitos made this summer, believe me!

Of course, I am a bit of a light-weight and drink them very weak, but that doesn't distract from the flavour too much and the pleasure lasts for longer. In fact, this incarnation of mojitos in cheesecake format can do entirely without the alcohol... I found them in an issue of delicious magazine and there's a fabulous line-up of summer recipes by Tom Aikens - sticky pork ribs, tuna teriyaki burgers and for dessert: mojito cheesecake. What a wonderful grown-up menu for a garden party!

When I saw the recipe, I knew this was just the thing to make for this month's Sugar High Friday, brainchild of the lovely Jennifer aka Domestic Goddess, and this instalment is hosted by the equally talented Helen of Tartelette. Actually, I lie: I had made them already, not one to resist anything dreamed up by the gorgeous Tom, so this was a great opportunity to for once take part in a food blogging event that I am not organising myself... life's just too busy at the moment!

Cheesecakes are always wonderful in themselves, but even more so when they're as light and tart as this one. Tom makes them with mascarpone and cottage cheese, I tinkered a bit, using up what I had in the fridge: a combination of quark, mascarpone and crème fraîche... still worked a treat! Served straight from the fridge in mini tumblers, they make for excellent finger food at any summer party, a sweet, yet refreshing dessert that nobody in their right minds is going to refuse!

Mojito cheesecakes*
(makes 8-10)

100 g digestive biscuits (I used Hobnobs)
25 g butter (melted)

4 limes
120 g light muscovado sugar
4 tbsp rum (optional)
1 large handful mint leaves
250 g quark
100 g crème fraîche
250 g mascarpone

Heat the sugar in a thick-based cast-iron pan with 5 tbsp of water until the granules have fully dissolved. Leave to simmer for 2 minutes without stirring. Add the zest and juice of 3 limes, the rum (if using) as well as the mint leaves, reserving enough small leaves for decoration. Take off the heat and leave to cool completely.

In the meantime, blitz the digestive biscuits in a food processor until left with fine crumbs, add the butter and combine. Press equal amounts of the mixture into the base of small cocktail tumblers or shot glasses as the base of your cheesecakes. Set aside.

Remove the mint leaves from the pan, draining them thoroughly. Pour the mojito mix into a bowl and beat in the quark, crème fraîche and mascarpone until smooth. Pour the mixture carefully on top of the base, then place the glasses in the fridge for at least 1 hour to set.
(You can prepare this a day ahead, if you're pressed for time on the day.)

When ready to serve, cut the remaining lime into thin wedges and use one each plus a few small mint leaves for decoration. Sprinkle with some more muscovado, if you wish.

Serve in the glass with a dessert spoon.

* based on a recipe by Tom Aikens in an issue of delicious magazine (I don't remember which, unfortunately)

Comments

[mel]

estoy de veras se ve buenisimo!!! no solo me encanta el cheesecake y el mojito., pero ademas me fascinan las presentaciones en verinas individuales!!!

[mel]

estoy de veras se ve buenisimo!!! no solo me encanta el cheesecake y el mojito., pero ademas me fascinan las presentaciones en verinas individuales!!!

[Sylvie]

Oh those look wonderful and if they taste like a mojito even better!

[courtney]

Now that is a brillant idea!

[Tartelette]

They look perfect! I could just sit in the sun and eat a couple! Thank you for your entry!

[michelle @ TNS]

i love the presentation. because tiny things are cute.

i might add a little rum whipped cream, just to sneak the booze element in. y'know, because i like booze.

[Christina]

Great idea and they look just divine! I totally love anything lime but mojitos are a favorite - and added to one of my fav dessert, that's a total win.

[Lynda]

Oh my, these look delicious. It's a hot day today where I live, and this is a perfect food group for the heat! Will certainly try during the weekend - if I can wait that long!

[Margaret]

I could have quite happily sat outside in the sunshine last weekend and ate one of those. Alas, the sun is nowhere to be seen at the moment.
They look delicious Johanna.

[Foodfreak]

I love mojitos, and these cheesecakes look divine - serving them in small tumblers is such a neat idea! Thanks for sharing, have to make these soon :-)

[Dan]

Made these this weekend (without rum because of kids). Went for mascarpone and only a bit of creme fraiche. Huge hit. Thx!

[Evelin]

Thanks for this wonderful recipe! The flavour combination of mojitos is a sure win. Will be trying these out some time soon;)

[Yani]

Just wanted to say THANK YOU for your amazing site, recipes!!!! I have learned so much from you. My husband and I both greatly appreciate your talent.

[robin]

What a fabulous idea! I like my drinks on the weak side too... I like to enjoy the taste as much as the loopiness!

[francesca]

You had a wonderful idea, the cheesecake looks wonderful,I have to try it.
Thanks for sharing and compliments for the photos too.

[Cristi Roman]

I never tried Mojito:(

[Wine Blog]

Mojito Cheesecake's! Too things I really love, can't imagine how it could go wrong, besides maybe the mint part being a clash with the cheescake.

[Bellini Valli]

Wouldn't this be the perfect summer dessert...no baking:D

[savagepink]

You make them look so much better than they looked in Delicious!

[The Cooking Ninja]

wow! These are beautiful and great dessert for summer weather. :)

[Gloria]

Thi looks lovely and really tasted!!!xxGloria

[myfrenchkitchen]

What beauties you have here!Looks delicious Johanna.
ronell

[Andrea]

Those look so pretty and refreshing!!

[Nan]

These look delicious and SO summery. Just beautiful! (Hooray for being able to drink, as well!)

[Sylvia]

I really love the idea. Is bookmarked now, for an outdoor lunch in next summer

[My Sweet & Saucy]

What a great idea! These little cheesecake bites sound fantastic!

[Angela]

Oh, so cute! I love Mojitos, so I'll be sure to try these out this summer :) (Assuming the sun ever shines again, that is.)

[George@CulinaryTravels]

The idea of using quark here really appeals and they're so cute :)

[Cindy]

I always order mojito in a bar,
And I'm a big fan of cheesecakes,
Now you just put these two things together,
I must be in heaven!

[Susan from Food Blogga]

What a lovely presentation and refreshingly delicious dessert, Johanna. I love it!

[Sean]

Those just look excellent

[Jessica]

Wow! Yummy!

[Sorina]

Very Very visually appealing…great presentation

[Foodguy]

What a great idea, these sound fantastic! I'm sending this one over to StumbleUpon.com!! Thanks for sharing and the photo is awesome too!

[kindageeky]

My wife will love these!

[souschefFUZION]

I used pretzels instead as a base just make sure you process them really fine and they taste so amazing with the cheesecake mixture. I used Butter flavored pretzels so I didn't have to use so much butter... lower in fat and cholesterol and sodium.

[Marybeth]

Maybe this is a stupid question, but can I make these and substitute that liquid mojito cocktail mix? I bought it to try making mojitos at home because I am lazy and didn't want to make real ones, and the taste was awful. But I don't think it would be so terrible in a dessert. But I have yet to find any dessert recipes that call for the actual mix.

[johanna]

I should think that's possible! I am not sure about quantities, though - I guess 4 limes would be about 75 ml in juice, plus the 4 tbsp rum, so I would go for 85ml of your mix and omit the limes, sugar and rum in the recipe, adding more sugar as required to the final mix.

Do let us know how it turns out!