Mini cheesecake

Everybody loves cheesecake, so let's get down to business. For this recipe I use pressed cottage cheese, because, well, there's a problem with cream cheese around here. And by 'problem' I mean we can only find salted cream cheese, yuck, so we're forced to be creative. Looking for a solution to the cheesecake problem, I've had one of my friends tell me she buys excellent cottage cheese from a local farmer and I've decided to give it a try. The result was even tastier than I could have hoped for, so if you're looking for a cream cheese replacement in this recipe, pressed cottage cheese is my solution. However, I have never used the store bought kind, quark or curd cheese, but if you get to do it, please let me know how it goes.

Ingredients for six 10 centimeters (4 inch) tartlets.

If you decide to bake a dozen tartlets, please remember to double all quantities

170 grams digestive biscuits

90 grams butter

250 grams pressed cottage cheese

1 large egg

200 ml sour cream

100 ml milk

75 grams sugar

5 ml (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract

15 grams flour

pinch of salt

Directions:
Preheat you oven to 160ºC (320ºF) and place rack in center.

Process the biscuits until fine, transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in the melted butter until evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of your tartlet pans and bake for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack while preparing the filling.

Beat the cottage cheese, sugar and egg until combined. Add the sour cream, flour, salt, and vanilla extract, mix well. Gradually add the milk, scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time. Depending on the consistency of your cottage cheese and sour cream the amount of milk needed in this recipe may vary. My advice is to add it gradually, until your reach the desired consistency, rather creamy than runny.

Spread the filling into the pans; bake the cheesecake for about 30 minutes or until just set. Turn off the oven and let the cheesecakes cool inside with the door ajar (this prevents them from cracking).

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving. Serve with fresh fruit or berry reduction (recipe coming soon).