Raspberry Lemon Mini Cheescakes in Macaroon Crust

What a happy coincidence!  I happened across this mouth-watering recipe at the exact moment in my life in which I have lemon curd to spare!  This recipe for Red and Golden Raspberry Lemon Baby Cheesecake Pies from Picky Palate looked so delicious, I just had to give it a shot. 

I omitted the golden raspberries, opting instead for just plain red ones.  Instead of mixing the berries into the batter, I decided to just place them on top as decoration.  I used my brand spankin' new mini-muffin tins to make these, and a regular sized muffin tin for the few extras that were left over. 

I was also fortunate enough to encounter this fabulous recipe for macaroon crusts (really just coconut shells) on the Real Simple website.  Oh-Em-Eff-Geee, I love me some coconut.  I thought the lemon and coconut would go really well together, so I went ahead and killed two recipe birds with one recipe stone.

Wow, you would not believe  how difficult making all of these tiny crusts was!  It is just a mushy, sticky mess that you have to push against the walls of the tins, hoping for the best.  As I was molding these crusts, I was thinking to myself, "Self, there is no possible way this is going to work.  You are just going to end up with a gloppy mess".  I ignored myself, and proceeded to bake the crusts for 10 minutes to see if they would firm up a little. I didn't want to fully cook them as they would be cooking again when the cheesecake batter went in.  10 minutes goes by, I open the oven door and give them a poke, and whaddaya know!?!  They seem to be holding their shape!  Too awesome.  So I take them out, fill them with the cheesecake batter, and followed the cheesecake recipe baking instructions to bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

 Looks yummy!  I let them cool, then decorated with raspberries on top.  They were so good, I loved them!  This crust is definitely a keeper too.  Nom nom nom!