fruit dessert | EASYBAKED

Raspberry Lemon Cream Cups

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Ruthanne

These adorable chilled lemon and raspberry treats are creamy, sweet summer dessert perfection!

I love lemon and raspberry together and I just couldn’t resist trying a new flavor combination in my mini cheesecake pan ! The sweet raspberries and tart lemon cream are a perfect ending to any meal! Want to try them???

Here’s how: (printer friendly recipe)

Ingredients:

40 Nilla Wafers
4 Tablespoons of melted butter
1 package (4-serving size) of instant lemon pudding
1 1/2 cups of cold milk
1 container of Cool Whip topping
2-3 cups of fresh raspberries (about 60 berries)

Directions:

In a food processor or a large food chopper, crush Nilla wafers to fine crumbs.
Add melted butter to crumbs and pulse a few more times to combine.
Prepare mini cheesecake pan by placing metal disks in the bottom of each cup.
Evenly divide crumbs between all 12 cups.
Press firmly into bottom of each cup using a mini tart shaper or the end of a wooden spoon.
In a large mixing bowl, combine cold milk with packet of pudding mix. Beat on medium for 2 minutes.
Mix in HALF of the Cool Whip topping (the rest will be used on top once dessert is frozen, so you can return it to the refrigerator).
Spoon/pour pudding mixture into a large zip-top bag and carefully clip a corner off.
Pipe filling into each cup, covering crust and filling only half way.
Place 4 to 5 fresh raspberries on top of filling in each cup.
Pipe filling over raspberries until it reaches top of cup (be sure to push filling down around berries and not just on top of them). You will probably have a little lemon filling left at the end. I can tell you from experience that Nilla Wafers dipped in this filling are AMAZING!!
Use a knife to level the tops of each cup.
Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for several hours (or overnight!)
Once frozen, (and just before serving) allow pan to warm just slightly at room temperature and then use your fingers to push up on metal disk and push each dessert out of the pan.
Remove metal disks from bottom crust.
Pipe remaining Cool Whip on top and garnish with remaining raspberries on top.

These can be served frozen, or allowed to warm at room temperature for a little while before serving. Don’t leave them at room temperature for longer than an hour or so, or your crust will start to get soggy!

My thoughts: I cannot even think of the words to describe how yummy these little cups are. Plus they are EASY to make and quick (except for the freezer time, of course!) If you do not have a mini cheesecake pan, you can make these in cupcake liners in a muffin tin…or you could get a mini-cheesecake pan and add to the fun in your life. I absolutely love mine!!! So many possibilities!!

Other recipes that use the mini-cheesecake pans:

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Posted in Easy recipes, Frozen desserts and tagged baking, cool whip, cream, dessert, dessert cups, fresh raspberries, fruit dessert, lemon, lemon pudding, mini cheesecake pan, Nilla wafer crust, nilla wafers, pudding mixture, raspberry, recipe, summer desserts. Bookmark the permalink.

Key Lime Cupcakes

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Ruthanne

These cupcakes are filled with a sweet key lime filling and topped with key lime buttercream…what could be better than that? Oh, how about a graham cracker crust on the bottom of the cupcake? This dessert is as close to key lime pie as you can get…without it being a pie! (printer friendly recipe)

INGREDIENTS: (makes 24 cupcakes)

Filling:

1 cup key lime juice (a labor of love….!)
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 egg

Cupcakes:

2 cups of graham crackers (finely crushed)
3 Tablespoons of butter (melted)
1 boxed yellow cake mix (plus water, oil and eggs to make according to package)

Frosting:

2 sticks (8 oz) salted butter (at room temp)
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter (at room temp)
3 cups of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 Tablespoons of key lime juice

DIRECTIONS:

Filling:

Mix together key lime juice, sweetened condensed milk and egg and pour into a small casserole.
Bake at 325F degrees for 15-20 minutes (until center is set)
Cool completely.

Cupcakes:

Mix crushed graham crackers with melted butter.
Spoon about 1 teaspoon of this mixture into 24 cupcake liners in muffin tins (you’ll have a little left to garnish with at the end)
Press crumbs firmly into bottom of cup (I find my Mini Tart Shaper to be very useful for this)
Make cake mix according to box, and divide batter equally between the 24 cupcake liners.
Bake according to directions on box
Remove from oven and cool completely.
Core cupcakes (I love my Cupcake Plunger– it is so quick to use and saves the core to place back on top of the filling- to see a picture of how it works, click here).
Spoon cooled filling into a zip top bag and clip a corner off.

Pipe filling evenly into each cupcake, saving about 1/4 of a cup of filling to drizzle on the top at the end.
Place top of core back in place (you can trim some of the bottom off to make room for the filling if you need to)

Frosting:

Place butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and 2 Tablespoons of key lime juice into a large bowl.
Using a mixer, beat on high until light and fluffy.
Pipe frosting on top of cupcakes and drizzle remaining filling on top.
Sprinkle with remaining graham crust crumbs and ENJOY!!!!

My thoughts: I created these for a graduation party. The challenge was to create a key lime cupcake for someone who LOVES key lime pie. Key lime pie is one of my favorite desserts, so it was a fun task. These were a big hit. I love the balance between the tart center and the sweet cupcake and frosting.