Mini Raspberry Cheesecakes

My husband is part of a BBQ team that enters into competitions once or twice a year.  This year they entered into a KCBS contest for the first time.  This competition had two new entries, Anything Butt Dessert and Anything Butt Meat.  I helped them out with the dessert category.  We had 3 trial runs with desserts and decided on this Mini Raspberry Cheesecake recipe that I found at Cookin Up Good Times.

The first time I made them, I followed her recipe exactly.  We thought the presentation was nice but that the white cheesecake filling was too fluffy and didn't have enough cheesecake flavor.  Below are our changes.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp lemon zest

1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tsp honey

1/2 cup softened cream cheese (she used whipped, which was nice, just very light)
1 cup whipped cream
1 tsp lemon juice

chocolate sauce of your choice
whole fresh raspberries

Directions:

Heat your rinsed and dried berries in a small skillet over medium heat.  Add sugar and lemon zest.  Squish berries down into a sauce.  Allow for berries and juice to reduce to about 1/3 volume and sauce thickens.   Refrigerate until cooled.

Microwave cracker crumbs and honey for 10 seconds.  Stir together to moisten, set aside.  Whip cream cheese and lemon juice, by hand or mixer, until smooth.  Add whipped cream, whip together.

Add crumbs to the bottom of shot glasses and press down to create crust.  Add cheesecake mixture (putting it into a large ziplock bag and cutting the corner makes for very easy assembly), add a layer of chocolate sauce, your cooled berry sauce and a dollop of whipped cream and a fresh raspberry.  We also added some chocolate shavings for a nice touch.  :)

So.  We thought we had a winner.  Wrong!!  We got last place out of 6!  Ouch!  There are 6 judges and everyone really liked it except 1 judge.  He gave us a 4 when all the other judges gave us a 7 or 8.  Someone must really hate raspberries!  :)  

That's okay, we'll just try even harder for the next time around.  But it still is a fabulous dessert.  This recipe will make 3 shot glass desserts.  (We tripled the recipe for the competition)  Great for a party and beautiful presentation.  Flavor isn't too bad either.  If you like raspberries.  :)