Chef Andre’s “Mini Cheesecake and Fresh Fruit Coulis” Recipe

These tasty small treats are a wonderful balance of traditional cheesecake with a bite of ginger in the crust.

TIME: 25 minutes/ACTIVE TIME: 18 minutes/TOTAL: 43 minutes/YIELDS: 12

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup finely crushed ginger cookies
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
2 oz. cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg

Butter, for greasing

Special equipment: mini muffin tin

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350º F.

Combine the crushed ginger cookies and the melted butter. Place a tightly packed teaspoon of the cookie mixture into each mini-muffin cup and press down firmly.

In a food processor combine the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg. Blend until smooth. Lightly grease the sides of the mini muffin tin with butter. Fill the cups with about 1 tbsp of the cheesecake mixture. Place the mini muffin tin in a baking dish and pour enough hot water in the baking dish to come halfway up the sides of the mini muffin tin.

Bake for 25 minutes. Transfer the mini muffin tin to a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Use a small knife to gently pop the cheesecakes out of the cups.

Just before serving, top each individual with fresh fruit coulis or sliced fresh fruit and serve.

Serves 12

Fresh Fruit Coulis

2-3 Tbsp powdered sugar
1-2 cups very ripe fresh fruit, such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches…

Option: for added flavor, mix in 1-2 tsp orange juice, or fruit-flavored liqueur.

Place the fruit in a mixer or food processor/blender.

Pulse to break up fruit.

Add powdered sugar and mix to form a puree. Add liqueur, mix.

Remove to a container & chill until required.

If the fruit contains seeds, push the fruit through a sieve to remove them before chilling.