Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Place the 12 paper cupcake liners into the muffin pan. You don't have to coat them with non-stick cooking spray - just make sure that the liners themselves are non-stick.

Break the wafers into smaller pieces and line every cup with vanilla wafer biscuits. The bottom should be covered with vanilla wafers, but not overcrowded.

To make the cheesecake, place the cream cheese into a large mixing bowl. Beat the cream cheese until it has become light in color and fluffy. Then, add the caster sugar, vanilla extract or essence, and fine salt. Mix the ingredients together until they are well incorporated.

Next, add the eggs one at a time. Make sure to incorporate them well before you start adding the next one. You should ensure that the cheesecake batter is smooth and has no lumps.

Divide the cheesecake batter between the 12 wafer-filled cups. Then, bake the cheesecake tartlets for roughly 15-20 minutes, or until they start becoming firm. They shouldn't be hard and they should still have a soft and creamy texture.

Remove the cheesecakes from the oven and allow them to completely cool at room temperature. Then, only once they have cooled, remove them from the pan and set them in a fridge to set a little bit.

While the cheesecakes are baking, cooling, and finally, setting, you can make the cherry filling.

First, in a medium-sized pot, combine the pitted cherries, water, lemon juice and zest, water, and cornstarch.

Bring the mixture to a boil while stirring often. Once the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat and allow the cherry topping to simmer slowly for about 15 minutes. The cherries should be cooked, but not until they become mushy and soft. You want firm cherries with a sticky sauce.

Once cooked, remove the cherries from the pot and place them in a bowl. Allow the topping to cool completely.

Once the cheesecake and the topping is cooled, place a spoonful of the topping into each cheesecake cup. Do not place too much cherry pie filling on the cheesecake, as it will ooze off.

Serve these mini cheesecakes with cherry fillings immediately, or store them in the fridge until they are needed.