This post may contain affiliate sales links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Enjoy the feel-good flavor of champagne with a sweet berry twist by whipping up these darling little Strawberry Champagne Cheesecakes! Each cupcake-style cheesecake has a crispy vanilla wafer crust, a creamy champagne filling with fresh strawberry chunks, plus a fluffy strawberry champagne whipped cream topping.
Delightful Strawberry Champagne Cheesecake Bites
The only thing better than a good old cheesecake is a whole batch of velvety mini cheesecakes! These strawberry champagne ones are the best of the best. There’s no shortage of either flavor, and the way they fuse together is just divine.
The buttery crust combined with the bursts of fresh berries, the smooth champagne filling and the pillowy strawberry champagne topping – there’s nothing else quite like it. It’s like the best-tasting fruity mixed drink transformed into a perfect little cheesecake that you can hold in one hand. Just thinking about taking a bite makes my mouth water like crazy!
What You’ll Need
From the wafer crust to the whipped cream topping, let’s talk ingredients. These cheesecakes keep it real simple!
For the Vanilla Wafer Crust
- Vanilla Wafer Cookies: Ground into a fine crumb with a food processor.
- Sugar
- Butter: Melted.
For the Strawberry Champagne Cheesecake Filling
- Champagne: This will be cooked down to enhance its flavor.
- Cornstarch: To thicken the reduced champagne.
- Cream Cheese: Brought to room temperature.
- Sugar
- Flour: The starch prevents the egg proteins from over-coagulating, giving you a creamier texture and helping you prevent any cracks.
- Sour Cream
- Vanilla Extract
- Eggs: Large eggs.
- Fresh Strawberries: Rinsed, dried and chopped into small chunks.
For the Strawberry Champagne Whipped Cream
- Champagne: To be cooked down.
- Cornstarch
- Strained Strawberry Puree: Make this by pureeing fresh berries in a food processor and sifting the puree through a fine mesh sieve to filter out the seeds.
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Powdered Sugar: For structure and to keep it from wilting.
- Red Food Coloring: I like to use a few drops of red food coloring to intensify the pink color from the puree.
- Sprinkles: I use these gorgeous little gold stars.
How to Make Mini Strawberry Champagne Cheesecakes
Without further ado, let’s dive into the process of making these mini strawberry cheesecakes.
Make the Crust
- Prep for Baking: Preheat the oven to 325°F and line a cupcake pan with nonstick liners.
- Combine Ingredients: Combine the vanilla wafer crumbs, sugar and melted butter in a bowl. Divide the mixture between the cupcake liners (about 2 tablespoons each) and press the crust evenly into the bottom of the liners.
- Bake & Let Cool: Bake the crusts for 5 minutes, then remove them from the oven. Allow them to cool while you make the filling.
Make the Filling
- Reduce Oven Temperature: Lower the oven temperature to 300°F.
- Cook Down Champagne: Add the combined champagne and cornstarch to a medium-sized saucepan and heat the mixture over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, or until it’s reduced by half (to 1/2 cup). Do not boil it. To see if the volume has reduced enough, pour the liquid into a glass measuring cup. If it’s not yet at half a cup, pour it back into the pan and continue heating it until it is. Once reduced, set it aside to cool to room temperature. You can place it in the refrigerator or the freezer to speed up the cooling process if desired.
- Combine Cream Cheese, Sugar & Flour: Mix together the cream cheese, sugar and flour in a large bowl until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add Sour Cream & Vanilla: Add the sour cream and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed until well combined.
- Add Reduced Champagne: Add the champagne reduction and mix until combined.
- Slowly Add Eggs: Add the eggs one at a time, beating slowly and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
- Spoon Strawberry Chunks Over Crusts: Add about a tablespoon of chopped strawberries to each cupcake liner so there’s an even layer on top of each cheesecake crust.
- Add Filling: Add the filling to each cheesecake cup until the liners are mostly full.
- Bake: Bake the cheesecakes for 20-23 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the door closed for another 5 minutes.
- Cool Slowly: Crack the oven door and allow the cheesecakes to cool in the oven for 15-20 minutes, then transfer them to the fridge to finish cooling. Once the cheesecakes have cooled, remove them from the pan.
Make the Topping
- Combine Champagne, Cornstarch & Puree: Combine the champagne and cornstarch in a bowl, then stir in the strawberry puree.
- Cook Down: Cook down the mixture just like you did for the filling.
- Whip All Ingredients Together: Add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, champagne mixture and red food coloring to a large mixer bowl, then whip on high speed until stiff peaks form. For more details about making homemade whipped cream, see this post.
- Top Cheesecakes: Pipe swirls of whipped cream on top of each cheesecake. I use Ateco tip 844. Add sprinkles if desired, then refrigerate the cheesecakes until you’re ready to serve them.
Tips for Success
I have a few important tips to share with you before I send you off to make this lovely dessert. Here they are!
- Dissolve the Cornstarch in the Champagne: Make sure the cornstarch is fully dissolved in the champagne before you heat up the mixture. Otherwise, it will cause clumps to form.
- Don’t Let the Champagne Mixture Boil: You want to heat the champagne mixture enough so that it’s releasing steam, but you don’t want to let it come to a boil. Reduce the heat as needed to prevent boiling.
- Beat the Filling on Low Speed: If you’re using an electric mixer to make your cheesecake filling, be sure to stick with low speed. Beating too fast adds excess air to the batter and can cause cracks to form in the cheesecakes as they bake.
- Fully Cool the FIlling: Once baked, let the filling fully cool before you pipe on the topping so the whipped cream doesn’t melt.
Variation Ideas
Want to put a spin on this recipe? Be my guest!
- Make a Graham Cracker Crust: You can substitute the vanilla wafer cookies for graham crackers if you’d prefer a graham cracker crust. I personally love the cookie crust in these cheesecakes, but they’ll taste wonderful either way!
- Substitute the Strawberries for Raspberries: Some of my readers have tried making these cheesecakes with raspberries instead of strawberries, and they have loved the results. BRB, I’m about to try it myself!
- Use Another Topping: Feel free to top these with any whipped cream of your choice. Whether it’s Homemade Strawberry Whipped Cream or plain old cool whip, you’re going to savor every bite of your mini cheesecakes.
How to Store Extras
These cheesecakes should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy them within 2-3 days of making them.
Can I Freeze These?
Yes, you can easily freeze your strawberry champagne cheesecakes if you’d like. Simply place them onto a baking sheet and freeze them for 2-3 hours, or until they’re frozen solid. Then wrap each one in plastic wrap, transfer them to a freezer-safe container and store them for up to 2 months. Unwrap and thaw them in the fridge overnight before enjoying.
Watch How To Make These
PrintMini Strawberry Champagne Cheesecakes
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 12
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Enjoy the feel-good flavor of champagne with a sweet berry twist by whipping up these darling little Strawberry Champagne Cheesecakes! Each cupcake-style cheesecake has a crispy vanilla wafer crust, a creamy champagne filling with fresh strawberry chunks, plus a fluffy strawberry champagne whipped cream topping.
Ingredients
For the Vanilla Wafer Crust
- 1 cup (134g) vanilla wafer cookie crumbs
- 2 tbsp (26g) sugar
- 4 tbsp (56g) butter, melted
For the Strawberry Champagne Cheesecake Filling
- 1 cup (240ml) champagne
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 12 ounces (339g) cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (104g) sugar
- 3 tbsp (24g) flour
- 1/4 cup (58g) sour cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 6–8 strawberries, chopped
For the Strawberry Champagne Whipped Cream
- 1 cup (240ml) champagne
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp (30ml) strained strawberry puree
- 1 cup (240ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup (58g) powdered sugar
- 4–5 drops red food color
- Sprinkles
Instructions
Make the Crust
- Preheat oven to 325°F (162°C). Add cupcake liners to a cupcake pan.
- Combine the vanilla wafer cookies crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Divide the mixture between the cupcake liners (about 2 tablespoons per cup) and press into the bottoms.
- Bake the crusts for 5 minutes then remove from oven. Allow to cool while you make the filling.
Make the Filling
- Reduce oven to 300°F (148°C).
- To reduce and thicken the champagne, add the champagne and cornstarch to a medium sized saucepan and heat over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, until reduced by half, to 1/2 cup. Do not boil. To see if the volume has reduced enough, pour the liquid into a glass measuring cup. If not yet at ½ cup (120ml), pour champagne back into the pan and continue to heat until it has. Once done, set aside to cool and come to room temperature. You can place it in the refrigerator or freezer to speed up cooling.
- In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, and flour until combined (Use low speed to keep less air from getting into the batter, which can cause cracks). Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the sour cream and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed until well combined.
Add the champagne reduction and mix until combined. - Add the eggs one at a time, beating slowly and scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition.
- Add about a tablespoon of chopped strawberries to each cheesecake crust so there’s an even layer at the bottom of each.
- Add the filling to each cheesecake cup until cups are mostly full.
- Bake the cheesecakes for 20-23 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the door closed for another 5 minutes.
- Crack the oven door and allow cheesecakes to cool for 15-20 minutes, then put in the fridge to finish cooling. When cheesecakes are cooled, remove them from the pan.
Make the Topping
- When the cheesecakes are cool, make the whipped cream. Add the cornstarch to the champagne and whisk together, then stir in the strawberry puree.
- Add the champagne mixture to a medium-sized saucepan and heat over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, until reduced by half, to 1/2 cup. Do not boil. To see if the volume has reduced enough, pour the liquid into a glass measuring cup. If not yet at ½ cup (120ml), pour champagne back into the pan and continue to heat until it has. Once done, set aside to cool and come to room temperature. You can place it in the refrigerator or freezer to speed up cooling.
- Add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, champagne mixture and red food coloring to a large mixer bowl, then whip on high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Pipe swirls of whipped cream onto the top of each cheesecake. I used Ateco tip 844.
- Add some sprinkles to the top, if desired, then refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
- Makes 12-14 cheesecake bites.
- To Store: Refrigerate cheesecakes in an airtight container. Enjoy within 2 days.
- To Freeze: Freeze cheesecakes on a baking sheet for 2-3 hours, or until frozen solid. Then wrap each one in plastic wrap, transfer to a freezer-safe container and store for up to 2 months. Unwrap and thaw in the fridge before enjoying.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Mini Cheesecake
- Calories: 253
- Sugar: 17.7 g
- Sodium: 154.5 mg
- Fat: 13.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 23.4 g
- Protein: 4.2 g
- Cholesterol: 61.3 mg
Categories
More Easy Mini Cheesecakes to Try
Loving these single-serving cheesecakes? I have so many more that you have to try!
- Classic Mini Cheesecakes
- Baileys Chocolate Cheesecake Bites
- Mint Chocolate Oreo Mini Cheesecakes
- Mini Cherry Almond Cheesecakes
This post includes affiliate links.
I’m about to make these lovely cheesecakes!
I have a question about freezing them … with or without whipping cream?
I’d probably freeze them without it, but it would be ok either way. Keep in mind the frozen strawberries could get a little mushy when they thaw.