Mini Lemon Meringue Cheesecakes
ShareA fun recipe for mini lemon meringue cheesecakes, featuring lemon cheesecakes topped off with fresh lemon curd and meringue frosting. A perfect bite sized Spring dessert!
I got myself all hyped up, excited to watch Nashville only to realize that it’s not new this week. Boohoo. Seriously, what gives? Didn’t they just start back up after a Winter break? It sure feels like it. I swear they’ve only been back on for a month and now another break. At least Scandal won’t let us down. And after last week… definitely looking forward to seeing what happens next! Who else is following along and excited for the changes?! I won’t give any spoilers in case you haven’t caught up, but man… last week’s episode was good.
And in other very important news. I need to know. Who else is going to see Divergent this weekend? Have you read all of the books? I had every intention of buying the third book the second (okay… the day) it was released but I still haven’t. I have at least read the first two though. I promise I’ll have the third read by the time that movie comes out which should give me at least two years to have it read. Was the third as good as the first two?
And of course…happy first day of Spring! Not that the weather is acting like it in most areas of the country, but sooner or later the nice weather has to kick in. Until then, we’ll have to try and encourage Mother Nature a little bit, entice her if you will, with lemon-y treats and other Spring dishes.
I’m a big fan of lemon desserts. A little bit sweet, sometimes tart, but always perfect no matter what!
Even though I already had a very basic lemon-lime mini cheesecake, it was time to kick things up a notch and share an over the top lemon cheesecake. These are amazing. Creamy two bite lemon cheesecakes topped off with sweet homemade lemon curd and fresh meringue. The ultimate Spring dessert and an absolute must make. My family couldn’t get enough of these! Try them, you’ll see why!
Mini Lemon Meringue Cheesecakes
Ingredients
Crust:
- 24 Nilla wafer cookies
- 2 1/4 tsp granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
Filling:
- 12 oz cream cheese softened
- 1/2 C granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp sour cream
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 large egg
Lemon curd:
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/2 C granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
Mergingue:
- 2 large egg whites
- 1/2 C granulated sugar
- 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a mini cheesecake pan.
- In a food processor combine crust ingredients. Divide mixture among prepared cheesecake cavities, adding one small cookie scoop to each. Press down firmly to create an even layer. Bake for 5 minutes.
- Decrease oven temperature to 325°F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together cream cheese and sugar. Mix in sour cream, followed by lemon juice and lemon zest. Finally add egg, mixing until batter is smooth and streak free.
- Add one heaping medium scoop to each cavity. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Cool in pan to room temperature. Transfer pan to refrigerator to chill cheesecakes thoroughly, at least 6-12 hours or more.
- Prepare lemon curd. In a double boiler over simmering water, whisk all ingredients for 8-10 minutes. Press through a fine mesh strainer, into a small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing to the surface of lemon curd so to avoid a skin forming. Cool to room temperature. Place in refrigerator to cool completely and continue to thicken.
- Carefully remove cheesecakes from pan, removing pan disc from the bottom of each crust. Using a piping bag fit with a small round tip or a spoon, carefully add a small amount (roughly 1-2 tsp) lemon curd to each cheesecake. Return to cheesecakes to refrigerator.
- Prepare meringue. Add egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar to a metal stand mixer bowl over simmering water. Whisk for several minutes or until sugar is dissolved and whites are warm. Move metal bowl to mixer, beat on low increasing to high until mixture is stiff and glossy, roughly 5 minutes. Add vanilla, mixing in well. Transfer to a piping bag with desired tip, pipe onto chilled cheesecakes. Use a kitchen torch to lightly brown the meringue frosting.
- Serve immediately. Store remaining cheesecakes in the refrigerator.
Notes
More Spring recipes to try:
Lemon shortbread tartlets
Lemon sugar cookies
Blueberry lemon squares
Milk chocolate mud cups
Carrot cake cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting
Lemon blueberry muffins
Mini lemon-lime cheesecakes
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Wow, these look amazing!
Thank you! :)
I love mini desserts. You can indulge without the guilt. Pinning!
Precisely! Thanks Norma! :)
Water in my mouth already. I am so gonna make these this spring/summer!
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Brenda! :)
wow! These cheesecakes look so fantastic. They would be good just with lemon curd and with that meringue top it’s amazing!
Thanks so much :)
I love anything lemon meringue! These are amazing :-)
Thanks Chloe! :)
Cheesecake and lemon meringue pie are, hands down, my two favorite desserts. So these are kind of blowing my mind right now.
Haha! Thanks Stephanie :)
I could 18 of these right now. Yes, 18.
I’d be right there with you! :)
Oh my gosh, what I wouldn’t give to be eating these right now!
Ha! Thanks Leah :)
Yum! This looks delish!!
Thanks Gayle!
i need to really make lemon curd this year..that looks so luscious.
You really do!
What a gorgeous and perfect cheesecake for the first day of spring!!!!
Thanks Jocelyn! :)
I adore lemon cheesecake and love that you made lemon curd and meringue on top!
Thanks Elizabeth! :)
I love all of your mini cheesecakes, but these ones might be my favorite! Lemon curd on top of cheesecake, topped with meringue is perfect!
Thanks so much Danae!
Oh my gosh these are so adorable! Lemon curd and meringue are like the peanut butter and jelly of the tart world, in my opinion.
Thanks so much :)
I love anything lemon, so these are a great dessert. I could just eat lemon curd as-is with a spoon, and be happy.
Made these today, didn’t change a thing in the recipe. Have to say they were fantastic.
So glad to hear you enjoyed them. :) Thanks for sharing!
These are just too adorable, plus I love the idea of combining the flavors of cheesecake and lemon meringue. = )
Thanks Crystal! :)
These are adorable! Cheesecake is my favorite dessert so I love making it whenever I can. Did you ever see Divergent? What did you think!
Thanks Shikha! I did see it and loved it! I’d go again if movies weren’t so darn expensive but I’ll definitely splurge when the next comes out :)
Wow! These look adorable and look so bright and fresh! I love lemons.
And Divergent… I really dislike the ending of the last book. Oh, well. Enjoy!
Thanks so much Anne! It’s been so long since I’ve read the books, I need to do a refresher on the last two!
Ooh…these look super yummy! I love that they have (what I consider) the perfect lemon curd/lemon cheesecake to meringue ratio. So cute!!
Thanks so much! :)
Made the mini cheesecakes last night and they were a hit. Absolutely delicious!!
So glad you enjoyed them! :)
So I made these for my husband on Father’s Day and let me tell you, it was definitely the highlight of his day (aside from playing with our daughter, of course). They were surprisingly easy to make, even though the 4 part recipe looks intimidating. I used muffin pans coated with non-stick spray because I didn’t have mini cheesecake pans and they worked out perfectly- I just used a butter knife to loosen the edges and they popped right out (after cooling in the refrigerator for 6 hours). I also used graham crackers for the crust because that’s what I had on hand. The flavors are absolutely amazing and they look so cute too. Going to enjoy leftovers in a few minutes :)
So glad to hear they were enjoyed! Thank you for sharing! :)
Looks delicious! Can these be made in a muffin tin with liners? I’d like to make them for a baby shower and am hoping they will be easier to transport/serve that way. Thanks!
They can be. Just keep in mind that the overall size will be different (larger around and shorter) if you follow the directions as is. Good luck! :)
so I kinda need this. like… in my face now! :P
Hooray for Twitter! One of my followers tweeted this earlier today! I saved it to pin on my Pinterest Good Eats and All around the world food. I am sure this will get a lot of attention. This desert is perfect in so many ways. It makes me happy just to look at it. The ease of preparation has me smiling, and when it lands in my mouth, I am so sure it will cause laughter! Thank you so much for sharing. “_”
Hi ! Was just wondering if flour or cornstarch should be added for it to hold together better? Also, if Im making these on Thursday night will they still be good for Saturday night dinner?
Flour and cornstarch are not necessary for this recipe. Making ahead a few days should be fine. Be sure to keep them chilled until ready to serve.
Hi Rachel,
I am wondering about converting this to make a whole cheesecake instead of mini’s ? I just came across this recipe and reading through the comments sounds like everyone loved it so I want to really try it but would take it to an event that I think doing a whole cheesecake would be better. Any input?
You would need to nearly triple the recipe for it to work in a larger traditional cheesecake pan. If you attempt it, I’d recommend following the directions from one of my full size cheesecake recipes for best bake temp and time. Good luck!
Is there another way to achieve the charred meringue without a kitchen torch?
Thanks!
Jackie
For this particular recipe, I wouldn’t recommend another method.
I only have Graham crumbs at home. How much would 24 wafer cookies be in cups?
You’ll want roughly 3/4 cup of crumbs for the crust. Enjoy! :)
I just pulled these out of the oven. Immediately they sank – not just a little – REALLY SANK 😢
Any ideas on what went wrong?
Cheesecakes can be very finicky. Rapid temperature changes can cause sinking (hot oven to a cooler room). If the pan wasn’t properly greased, the sides can stick while the middle sinks. Over mixing can also cause this. With a recipe like this, using a filling and topping, the sinking can easily be covered though, so I hope you still enjoyed them! :)
I have that pan and this looks like a beautiful recipe for it! Love the color transitions!
Thank you!
Could one use a muffin pan to make these in?
They will be wider and thinner if you follow the directions given, but you could certainly still use that pan instead. Just be aware of the differences.
I tired this recipe and OMG, SOOOO AMAZING. I did have issues with the meringue. I can make a traditional meringue that you bake with no issues at all. I tried three times on this one. The third time was better but still more like marshmallow than meringue. Once refrigerated them then morphed into blobs. It still tasted good but the pretty factor was lost. Any suggestions?
It sounds as though you didn’t whip your egg whites long enough. They should hold a nice stiff peak when done, even after piped onto desserts.
I am unable to see the responses or comments about the recipe. There is no where to click and they don’t show on your website.
Unfortunately, comments aren’t showing on desktop right now but they are visible on mobile!
can you do this as a regular size cheese cake? What size pan? Thanks!
This recipe was written specifically for mini cheesecakes and would not easily adapt to a large cheesecake.
Love mini desserts. I bake a lot and I must say that this was the prettiest little thing I have ever made. Quite tasty too. Thanks so much
So glad you enjoyed them!
Hola
Se ve riquisimo tr felicito por tu arte.
No entiendo que significa…. una caldera doble sobre el agua hirviendo bata.
Soy de El Salvador y aqui caldera es para otra cosa.
Por favor explicame
A double boiler is a second pan that sits on top of your saucepan. This allows the steam from the water in the saucepan to heat the ingredients in the double boiler without the risk of burning the food. If you don’t have a double boiler, you can set a heatproof bowl over your saucepan instead.
I just want to comment that the bottle of cream of tartar says 1/8 tsp per egg white, therefore; my meringue did not turn out as I followed your recipe to a T.
The recipe is correct as written.
Just saw this recipe 1/7/23. Will make these yummy lemon treats for my Bingo group & myself, of course!
Enjoy!
So I just made these tonight but my cheesecake fell. Will I be able to hide it with the lemon curd and meringue? I hate making cheesecake for this reason. I followed the recipe to the letter. Thanks for your input!
Yes! The lemon curd and meringue will help hide any issues. Unfortunately, cheesecakes are rather finicky but adding a topping can always help hide any issues that happened during the baking or cooling process.