I had a couple girlfriends around for a party just before Christmas and I wanted to treat them to dessert instead of the usual savoury snacks. If I made a large, whole cheesecake, they’d probably only feel like eating that and nothing else. I got the idea from a recent blogging event that if I made mini cups of cheesecake, everyone would get a couple bites and enjoy the cheesecake dessert without filling up too much and get to try a few other things I had on offer.

These are ridiculously easy to make using the spreadable tub of cream cheese. No need to worry about setting it with gelatin or adding butter to the biscuit base to firm it up. Great for a large buffet too. My recipe made 10 but you could double or even triple the recipe if you were feeding a crowd.

I had a couple rows of chopped hazelnut milk chocolate, melted that and added about the same quantity of Nutella. Then just mix in a 250gm tub of cream cheese.

I then crushed a basic chocolate biscuit and put a spoonful into the bottom of these clear, plastic cups I bought from the dollar store.  I

think it was about $2 for a pack of 10. You could use any small cup or glass, like a shot glass. They looked cute on the serving tray. You could make them in a larger glass or cup.

You could just spoon the cheesecake mixture straight onto the biscuit crumbs but I piped it on. I sprinkled the remaining chopped hazelnut milk chocolate on top for garnish and refrigerated. The cheesecake mixture set just enough to firm up. It looks a little soft in the photo because it was a hot day. Stay tuned for the other flavour mini cheesecake cups I made for the party.

Mini Choc Hazelnut Cheesecake Cups

• 250gm tub of cream cheese
• 2 rows of hazelnut chocolate, roughly chopped (or any plain chocolate with a few chopped hazelnuts)
• extra chopped hazelnut chocolate for garnish
• 1/4 cup Nutella
• 10 plain chocolate biscuits, made into crumbs

1. Melt chocolate. (I use the microwave in small bursts to melt chocolate.)
2. Add Nutella and mix well.
3. Allow to cool and add cream cheese and mix well.
4. Spoon a tablespoon of biscuit crumbs into the bottom of a small cup.
5. Pipe or spoon cream cheese mixture onto biscuit crumbs.
6. Garnish with extra chopped chocolate.
7. Refrigerate before serving.

Makes 10 small cups.