Mini Ricotta Cheesecakes

A kind of cheese soufflé
Taste: 3 (out of 5)

Difficulty: 2 (out of 5)

Source: Inspired by Chef Dennis

Ingredients
For the base
- 50 g animal crackers
- 50 g walnuts
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp melted margarine
For the cheesecake
- 200 g ricotta or farmers’ cheese
- 75 g sour cream
- 75 g yogurt
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp flour
Total 6 mini cakes

Instructions
1. In a food processor combine the animal crackers and the walnuts and grind into meal. Add the butter and the sugar and continue blending until the butter is incorporated and wet enough to form.
2. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease 6 small muffin tins and press the nut-cracker mix into the tins. Bake for 7 minutes and remove from the oven.
3. Mix all the ingredients for the cheesecake in a blender and pour into the muffin tins over the base. Bake in a 375F oven for 45-50 minutes. The cheesecake will puff up like soufflé and the top will brown.
4. Remove from the oven, run a knife around the cheesecake and carefully invert the muffin tins to release the cakes. Let cool slightly and serve with fresh fruit or with cherry syrup, like in the photo.

Afterthoughts
- I bet the original recipe of Chef Dennis tastes much better, I made lots of substitutions, and my batter was probably much more liquid. I think it would have been better to use less yogurt and sour cream or use mascarpone and Greek yogurt, as in the original recipe, which I did not have.
- Baking this soufflé-like cake in muffin tins was not very smart; the soufflé collapses when you try to release the cakes from the tins. It’s much better to use a spring form pan, like in the original recipe.
- Anyways, I needed to use up my farmers cheese and this is a "cook book of trial and error" after all :-). And if you want a better recipe check out More than a mount full