A Tik Tok Trend with a Twist

Do you know what’s better than cheesecake… eggless mini cheesecake cupcakes! The newest Tik Tok trends involve mini desserts. Everything from mini cupcakes to mini pancakes are taking over America’s favorite app. The delicious dessert is made of a graham cracker base filled with a sweet cream cheese layer. Our take on the pie-like dessert is bound for success. We are going to not only bake the cheesecakes in cupcake tins but leave out one of the most important ingredients, eggs.  

Eggs are important for binding, structure, and leavening of baked goods and not including them may be a challenge. Not including eggs will not only make the recipe more allergy friendly but healthier believe it or not. We are going to substitute eggs for applesauce. ¼ cup of applesauce is equivalent to one egg. Applesauce is a good substitute because not only does it act as a binder but it also adds moisture that an egg brings to most desserts. So now it is time to test the newest Tik Tok trend with a twist!

How do you make mini cheesecake cupcakes? First, add the two softened cream cheese packets into the mixer. Then gather your ½ cup of sugar and lemon zest. Before putting these two ingredients into the mixer, make sure you combine the lemon zest and sugar into one bowl. After adding in your lemon zest and sugar, you can go ahead and reach for your vanilla extract, you will need to add in 1 tsp into the mixture. After the vanilla is added in, grab your ⅓ measuring cup, then scoop up some sour cream to throw into the mixture. Once all of that is completed, you can add in your two eggs, or in this case, your egg substitute which will be ½ cup of unflavored applesauce. Lastly, add a tsp of salt. The recipe we found on TikTok did not give a recipe for the graham cracker base, so we found one online to follow. The recipe for the cheesecake filling and the graham cracker crust will be listed and linked below!

The cheesecake recipe, for the most, part was pretty successful! The taste was very similar to that of a normal piece of cheesecake, but the biggest difference between the two definitely had to be the texture. Your typical New York Style Cheesecake is firm and dense with the cream cheese giving it a smoother texture, but without the egg included in the recipe, it was less dense and less structured. The egg in the cheesecake is what gives it the power to thicken up and keep its structure, whereas in this case, it was too soft and struggled to keep the cupcake mold shape. Also, the egg yolk, specifically lecithin and lipoproteins, in cheesecake helps to give it the smooth and creamy texture, but without it, it completely changes the makeup of the cheesecake.

Apple Sauce, in itself, has a very distinct taste, which many know and love, but it did not take away from the typical cheesecake taste. The apple flavor barely came through in the final product, but if you really think apples, you might be able to trick yourself into tasting it! Overall, this dessert was super fun to make, but next time we are definitely going to have to do a little bit of experimenting to get it just right!

The Recipe

• 2 softened cream cheese packets
• Lemon zest (mix lemon zest in sugar)
• ½ cup of sugar
•  ⅓ cup of sour cream and mix
• Mix in 1tsp of vanilla
• ⅓ cup of sour cream
• 2 eggs room temp-one at a time (½ cup of unflavored applesauce)
• 1 Tsp of salt
• Graham Cracker Crust
  • 1 ½ cups of graham cracker crumbs
  • 5 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted
  • ¼ cup of granulated sugar

Graham cracker crust instructions! https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/how-to-make-a-perfect-graham-cracker-crust/