Individual Orange and Chocolate Cheesecakes
- 1/3 cup finely crushed chocolate wafers
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 1/4 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
- 1 orange, zested
- 1 egg
- Butter, for greasing
- Special equipment: mini muffin tin
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine the crushed chocolate wafers and the melted butter.
- Place a tightly packed teaspoon of the wafer mixture into each mini-muffin cup and press down firmly.
- In a food processor combine the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, 1/4 cup of the sugar, half of the orange zest, and the egg.
- Blend until smooth.
- Lightly grease the sides of the mini muffin tin with butter.
- Fill the cups with about 1 1/2 tablespoons 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, combine the remaining orange zest with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar.
- Top each individual cheesecake with about 1/4 teaspoon of the orange zest mixture and serve.
chocolate wafers, butter, ricotta cheese, cream cheese, sugar, orange, egg, butter
Taken from www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/individual-orange-and-chocolate-cheesecakes-recipe.html (may not work)