cherry-topped baby cheesecakes
Let’s make cheesecake! This one is considerably better than the Failed Pesto Cheesecake of yore. I followed a recipe from Cooking Light, and I gotta say, it’s just alright. It’s neither amazing cheesecake nor super diety, but it’s light for a cheesecake, and if you’re serious about a diet, it might be worth a shot. They used a mix of Neufchatel and fat free cream cheese, which makes it a sight more palatable than five blocks of fat free!
The cherry port sauce is what really shines. Besides the impressiveness of it being home-made, it really does beat a can of cherry pie filling in terms of richness, without being TOO rich, since it is, after all, topping a cheesecake for crying out loud. Halve your favourite cheesecake recipe to make five ramekins this size and top with ruby beauty.
It all begins with graham cracker crumbs.
![](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3053/2908950172_2b3cc54770.jpg?v=0)
After throwing in some sugar and butter, we have the makings of a crust. These ramekins are a very generous size (yours might be more modest) and don’t need to be greased because they’ll be the serving receptacle.
![](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3209/2908949836_2585a3f529.jpg?v=0)
While that’s baking, we get going on the cheese part of this cake.
![](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3217/2908948922_92cfc9522d.jpg?v=0)
Make your own dessert sand art!
![](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3225/2908948596_a2cc7415f7.jpg?v=0)
Onto the cherry topping. This is my favourite part. It’s just sugar, tawny port and two bags of cherries.
![](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3114/2908102331_a4f44a7747.jpg?v=0)
Besides making your kitchen smell lovely, if you’re anything like me, you’ll have so much fun admiring the syrup that comes of this.
![](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3191/2908101925_76165f2b93.jpg?v=0)
After your cakes have cooled and your cherries have chilled, you, my friend, have lovely cheesecakes for your efforts. Bravo! A good idea might be to serve with the leftover port, as you’ll have almost an entire bottle left, it’s a dessert wine, and you know for sure it will complement the dessert.
![](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3171/2908101753_cf22b7b28f.jpg?v=0)
Now go ahead, dig right on in.
![](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3271/2908101453_0e6457a3d7.jpg?v=0)
For all interested, the recipe can be found here.