Mini Cheescakes in Canning Jars

I made both Peanut Butter & Chocolate and Raspberry Lemon Mini Cheesecakes for a recent bridal shower and they were a big hit!  Serving them in a 4-oz mason jar made for a great dessert presentation and was the perfect individual serving size.

I recently subscribed to MaryJanes Farm magazine, which is where I discovered the recipe and added my own variation.  These are very simple to make and I liked the non-dense consistency of the cheesecake portion, which is due to gently folding in homemade whipped cream as the final step.



Peanut Butter & Chocolate was my favorite, but my husband loved the Berry & Lemon version, so both flavors were a good combination for the shower dessert.

Following is my variation of MaryJanes' recipes.  For the Berry & Lemon version, MaryJanes' recipe calls for a berry syrup made with her organic gelatin product.  Since I did not have her gelatin product, I used my own substitution for a berry syrup topping.  I had homemade blackberry preserves I made a few months ago, which I substituted as the lemon cheesecake topping with a raspberry garnish.  It was the perfect fruity sweet complement, so any of your own homemade preserves would work.  Just keep in mind, it needs to have the consistency to spread on top of cheesecake, so I do not recommend dense jam.

I liked the diversity of the small mason jars, as they work perfectly for both a casual fete or to complement any celebration.  But the highlight was definitely their taste!!