Today is a special day, because it is my birthday! Truth be told, I kind of forgot about it until my husband reminded me the other day! Last year, my cookbook, All American Paleo Table, went to print on my birthday, which was kind of a dream come true and totally felt like a fairy tale at the time.  This year, my husband is actually home to celebrate with me, and that truly is the best gift I could ever ask for, so we are just hanging out and I am beyond happy with that!

So in true blogger fashion, I made treats, mostly for myself, but these gluten and grain free lemon blackberry cheesecakes are too good to be true that I just had to share them with you!  If there is one thing you all probably know about me is that I absolutely love homemade whipped cream on anything and everything, including just spoonfuls!  So I clearly had to make something with whipped cream!

I have never been a big cake person, even growing up we usually celebrated with ice cream or something like that! You all know by now that I absolutely love treats, but I also love treats that are light and not overly sweet.  Cheesecake and pretty little tarts are some one of my all time favorites!

Now, these aren’t dairy free because I do fine with cheese and cream, and since these are birthday treats, I won’t be answering substitution requests.  However, you can use the lemon curd tart filling from my cookbook (page 116) or my vanilla bean cheesecake filling made with cashews. Just swirl the blackberry jam in at the end like the instructions say.

I am truly looking forward to this next year—there is a lot of good things coming soon for my husband and I and I feel like today, I am turning a page over.  Ending a productive and somewhat stressful year, constantly learning from it all and looking forward to what the future year is going to bring!

Honestly, I had the hardest time deciding on birthday treats, so I am sharing a few of my favorites below.  These slightly tart and perfectly sweet lemon blackberry swirl cheesecakes are completely fabulous! I seriously had to physically leave my house the other day to avoid eating them all, yes self control at its finest!

My Favorite Birthday Treats

• Dairy Free Pistachio Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
• Creamy Coffee Ice Cream from my cookbook
• Orange Rosemary Cake
• Lemon Curd Cake with Berries and Cream
• Vanilla Bean, Berry Stuffed Cheesecake Bites
• Cookie Dough Fudge

Thanks for celebrating with me friends!

Gluten and Grain Free Lemon Blackberry Swirl Cheesecakes

makes 6-4 1/2 inch round tarts or one 9 inch tart

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp butter
• 2 cups unsalted macadamia nuts
• 1 cup hazelnut or almond flour
• 2 tbsp coconut flour
• 2 tbsp maple sugar
• coconut oil for brushing pans
• 8 oz mascarpone cheese
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tbsp raw honey
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup blackberry jam (found on page 32 of my cookbook)

Directions

• First, start by making your blackberry jam.  Set it aside to cool, but not in the refrigerator as you want the jam to be more on the fluid side when you swirl it in.
• Next, cube your butter and set it aside to soften for 15 minutes.  Set your mascarpone cheese on the counter to come to room temperature (at least for 45 minutes).
• Preheat the oven to 340 degrees F and arrange the baking rack to the lowest possible position.
• Add the macadamia nuts into the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times until they are clumpy but broken down into smaller pieces.  Add the hazelnut or almond flour, coconut flour, maple sugar and cubed butter.  Blend just until a loose, thick ball of dough starts to form.
• Brush 6 4 inch tart pans with coconut oil and place them on a baking sheet.  Add a large scoop of dough to each pan, dividing it evenly.  Use your fingers to press the dough into the bottom of the pans and up the sides.  Use a fork to poke several holes in the bottom of each crust.  Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden brown.
• Set the tarts aside to cool for 30 minutes.
• In a large mixing bowl, add the mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, lemon juice, raw honey and pure vanilla extract.  Use a hand mixer to blend just until the cream starts to thicken.  Divide the cream mixture into the 6 tart pans, using the back of a spoon to smooth the tops.
• Add about 2 tablespoons of blackberry jam to the top of the cream and use a toothpick to make swirls.
• Place the tarts in the refrigerator for 1 hour before enjoying!
• Garnish with fresh blackberries, lemon zest and a sprig of mint if desired.