Birthdays were always a big deal in our family, in fact they still are. Our parents weren’t stingy (although some people might say that about my Dad!) but we were definitely brought up with the motto that gifts and extra 'stuff' that we asked for throughout the year was saved for giving or receiving on birthdays or at Christmas. It made receiving gifts pretty special, there was always alot of thought that went into the gift and if it was from Dad then it generally had some form of surprise attached (the reason I love surprises is all his fault – fault because I’m apparently hard to surprise thanks to my brilliant detective skills in the lead up to my own birthday!). My brother was never left wanting for anything, however, somewhere along the line he started adding up the approximate cost of gifts I received and would tally up that his haul would be fabulous in a months time or on Christmas day it was done straight away.

Not because he was greedy, oh no, he was always the first to extend his gratitude and crack that huge grin in happiness. He just wanted to make sure fair was fair, that we were both equal, after all he is a Libran and he likes those scales to be level. If they're not then it means he's kicking my butt in a round of Monopoly, seriously, I think I've one twice against him and I know I cheated at least one of those times (ha, sorry J!).

My little brother has grown up to become a pretty awesome guy. Ever since he was a kid he was always good at anything he put his mind to whether it was sports; roller blading, skate boarding, tennis, surfing the surfing he's Aussie Champ for, so I'm pretty proud of him for that or working and creating little business ventures to save money to purchase something he really wanted. I remember he started his own car wash business when he was about 10 or 11, this cute slightly chubby kid with the black hair and olive skin somehow managed to convince everyone on our street that their car was dirty, even if he's cleaned it the week before! Inside the house though, he absolutely sucked at doing dishes.We used to say he was permanently deaf to the phrase 'J, dishes in the kitchen to do!'.

So, with his least favourite thing in mind and his birthday at the end of this week I set about my little kitchen to cook something for him in celebration. These little cheesecake pots are right up his alley because...

• they're his favourite birthday dessert or cake choice (always unless Mum's golden syrup pudding with custard is on the menu)
•  they're no bake so you can basically eat them straight away
• make them in disposable cups and there's no dishes, or at least only the spoon
• choose your sauce, try lemon curd, a chocolate fudge sauce or fresh berries folded through

The only problem is that we live in different states and so I've had to eat share them all.

Raspberry No Bake Cheesecake Pots

Makes 6-8 pots depending on size, or will make a 20cm round cheesecake

180g dry gluten free biscuits, such as graham crakers or gluten free milk arrowroot/tea biscuits

40g butter, melted

1/2tsp cinnamon

1cup fresh or frozen raspberries

1-2tsp lemon juice

250g cream cheese, full cream or light

40g (scant 1/4cup) cator sugar

250ml cream

zest one lemon

method

Break the biscuits into a food processor and blitz with the butter and cinnamon. Scoop spoonfuls of mixture into the base of 6-8 glasses and press down. Place in the fridge to set a little while you make the cheesecake.

To make the raspberry swirl, blitz the raspberries and lemon juice in a clean food processor until smooth. Transfer to a small pouring jug, or if you don't like seeds, strain through a fine cheesecloth first.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar with a whisk until smooth. Beat in the cream and lemon zest until smooth. Spoon half of the cream cheese mixture into the chilled cups pour in a little raspberry sauce. Spoon in the remaining cheesecake mixture and swirl the top. You could also put the cheesecake mixture into a piping bag and pipe it in if you feel super swish.

Return to the fridge for 4-6hours befure serving with a drizzle of raspberry sauce.

Note: To make a single cheesecake simply make all of the above and put into a 20cm springform tin. Refrigerate for 6 or more hours. For a more stable large cheesecake dissolve 1tsp gelatine powder in 2tbslpn warm water, stir and leave for 5minutes. Stir through after the cream and lemon zest.

Not a raspberry fan? Sub the raspberries for chocolate sauce or lemon curd or check out my recipe for the all time favourite hazelnut chocolate combo with these Nutella Cheesecake Pots . There's always Baked Pumpkin too, if that's your kind of thing.