Mini Blackberry Caramel Cheesecakes

Once again, another recipe I found on Peabody’s blog that looked tasty, and that it was!  I haven’t made too many cheesecakes in my life, actually I don’t even think I have made one big cheesecake yet (my husband will only eat Snicker’s Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, so if anyone has that exact recipe, please pass it on .  Although he is a good husband and he’ll at least give my cheesecakes a bite or two :)  I have made some bite size cheesecakes made in the mini-muffin tins but a big cheesecake in those springform pans I have yet to try.  Anyway, I was having a few of friends from high school over this past week and decided to make these Mini Blackberry Caramel Cheesecakes.  They all said they loved it (hopefully they weren’t lying to my face, we’ll see how many comments I get from them after posting this).  It turned out very creamy and light.  I also did have the problem Peabody had with the caramel not coming out of the dish.  Next time I would skip the whole caramel part, bake the cheesecake in the dish and drizzle caramel or chocolate topping, some kind of nut or different fruit (the list is endless!) on the dessert after turning them out onto the plate.  My friends and I were talking about how versatile this cheesecake could be.  As Rachael Ray would say YUM-O!   

Mini Blackberry Caramel Cheesecakes

(Recipe from:  Peabody who adopted it from Chocolate Holidays by Alice Medrich)

Caramel:
1 cup sugar
½ cup water

Cheesecakes:
6 oz white chocolate, chopped
¼ c boiling water
1 ½ lb (24 oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
½ c plus 2 Tbsp sugar
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, at room temperature
5 oz ripe blackberries, rinsed and patted dry

Preheat oven to 325F.
To make the caramel, combine sugar and water in a 1-quart saucepan.  Stir(do no whisk) gently over medium heat until most of the sugar is dissolved.  Stop stirring and bring mixture to a simmer.  Cover and simmer 2-3 minutes to dissolve the sugar.  Uncover and increase the heat to medium.  Simmer without stirring until the syrup begins to color.  Swirl the pan to evenly distribute the color.  Cook until the caramel is a slightly reddish amber color.  Immediately pour equal amounts of caramel into 5 oz ramekin(or 6 oz).  Tilt each cup to spread caramel over the bottom and partway up the sides. Set cups aside to cool.
To make cheesecakes, place the chocolate in a small bowl.  Pour the boiling water over the chocolate and stir until smooth.
In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese just until smooth, about 30 seconds.  Scrape the bowl and beaters.  Add the sugar and vanilla and beat just until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.  Add 1 egg and beat until incorporated.  Scrape the bowl and beaters.  Beat in second egg.  Stir in the melted chocolate.  Divide the berries among the caramel cups, pour the batter among the cups, pouring it on top of the berries.
Place cups in a baking pan that is deep enough to hold water.  Carefully pour some boiling water into the baking pan to a depth of 1 inch.  Bake until the edges of the cheesecakes are puffed but the centers still jiggle when the cups are tapped, 15-20 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven.  Transfer each cup from the hot water to a rack to cool completely.  Cover and refrigerate over night or even longer. To unmold, run a knife around the cheesecakes edges and invert onto individual serving plates.