Kiwi Cheesecake Cups (No Bake)

📋Ingredients

Cookie crumbs layer

• Digestive biscuits (or Graham Crackers) - these form the crunchy crust layers in the cheesecake cups.
• Melted butter - I use salted butter. Unsalted butter will also work fine.
• Granulated sugar (caster sugar) - Sweetens the crust.

Cheesecake filling

• Cream cheese - use full fat cream cheese that is sold in blocks like Philadelphia cream cheese. Spreadable cheese will not work for this recipe as it will be too soft.
• Granulated sugar (caster sugar) - use fine sugar as it dissolves better than coarse sugar.
• Heavy cream - use full fat cream for best results.
• Kiwi coulis - kiwi puree made with fresh kiwi fruit, granulated sugar, lemon juice
• Vanilla extract (optional) - adds a lovely flavor to the cheesecake cups.

Topping

• Kiwi Coulis
• Fresh kiwi fruit - choose ripe fruits.

*Refer to the recipe card below for full list of ingredients and exact quantities. For best results, use a digital kitchen scale where applicable*

Making the kiwi coulis (cooked kiwi puree/sauce)

I have a full post on how to make a larger batch of kiwi coulis/puree. The recipe quantity provided for making kiwi coulis in the recipe card below is reduced to produce just the right quantity to make these kiwi cheesecakes, hence the measurements are small. You can refer to the full post on my kiwi coulis for larger measurements.

1. To prepare the kiwi coulis (sauce), begin by peeling the fruits. Cut them into small cubes. Place the fruit in a small saucepan.
2. Add sugar and lemon juice and stir to mix.
3. Heat the mixture on medium-low until the fruit becomes soft, stirring occasionally to avoid burning.
4. After turning off the heat, let the mixture cool slightly before transferring it to a food processor to blend into a puree.
5. Puree until smooth.
6. Pour the puree into a dry container. Let it cool completely to room temperature and then chill until ready to assemble the kiwi cheesecake. The coulis can be made a few days in advance and will last up to six days in the refrigerator. It is important to ensure the sauce is fully chilled before adding it to the cheesecake.

Preparing the cookie crust

To make the cookie crust, you need to break the cookies into fine crumbs. There are 2 ways you can do this. First method is to process them in a food processor. The second method is to place the cookies in a ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to roll on the cookies (while applying pressure) to break them into fine crumbs. The method below is the first option.

1. Break the cookies and place them in a food processor. You can add them to the food processor without breaking if your food processor is able to fit the cookies. Blend until they turn into fine crumbs and then transfer the crushed biscuits into a small bowl.
2. Melt the butter over low heat. Let it cool slightly.
3. In the meantime, add sugar to the Digestive cookie crumbs (or Graham Cracker crumbs if using). Mix well.
4. Pour the cooled down melted butter into the crumbs and sugar mixture and mix until the crumbs are well moistened. Set the biscuit mixture aside until the cheesecake filling is ready.

Preparing the cheesecake filling

1. To make the filling, measure the cream cheese into a medium bowl. Beat until it turns creamy. Scrape the sides of the bowl halfway through to make sure there is no cheese left unbeaten.
2. Next, add the sugar. Beat again until the sugar is well incorporated.
3. Measure in the heavy cream and cream it with the sugar and cream cheese mixture until well combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl halfway through.
4. Finally, add the kiwi coulis (see the recipe card for the exact measurement as you will need to reserve some for the topping) and vanilla extract (if using). Mix until it is well combined in the batter. Fill the batter into a large piping bag for easy filling into the cheesecake cups.

Assembling the cheesecake cups

• Since each cup has 2 layers of cookie crumbs and 2 layers of cream cheese and kiwi mixture filling, you will need to make sure you divide the crumbs and the batter equally into all cups. An easy way to do this is to measure the prepared crumbs and divide it into 12 (2 layers @ 6 cups). This is easier to do it you have a digital kitchen scale. The same with the batter.
• The other option is to divide the prepared crumbs and cheesecake batter into two portions each. Distribute the first portion of the cookie crumbs into all the cups equally first before filling them with the first portion of the cheesecake batter. Similar to the cookie crumbs, distribute the cheesecake filling equally into all cups.
• For the second layer of the kiwi cheesecake cups, do the same thing as above. That way, you get to adjust the crumbs and filling in each cup to ensure the layers are equal in all cups.

Here is how I did it:

The first layers

1. To assemble the cheesecake cups, start with the cookie or biscuit base. Divide the first half of the cookie crumbs into all the 6 cups equally.
2. Use the sides of a rolling pin or the back of a small spoon to press the crumbs down to form the biscuit base for the kiwi cheesecake cups. You need not press too hard, suffice if you level the crumbs.
3. Next, divide the first portion of the kiwi cheesecake batter. Pipe the batter onto the cookie crust layer.
4. To ensure the filling is level, tap the cups onto your kitchen countertop gently.

The second layers

1. Repeat the assembly process with the second layer of the cookie crumb mixture in each cup. Level them lightly with the back of a small spoon, but take note to not apply pressure into doing this to avoid the crumbs from sinking into the cheesecake mixture underneath.
2. And finally, divide the remaining batter equally among the cups. Tap lightly to level the filing.
3. For the topping, spoon between 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of the kiwi coulis onto the top on each kiwi cheesecake cup.
4. Peel the kiwi fruit and chop it into small pieces. Top the sauce with chopped kiwi fruit.
5. Chill the cups for about 2 hours before serving. These kiwi cheesecake cups should be kept chilled and are best served chilled.