Little baked cheesecakes

I hadn't baked anything yummy for ages so when my mom decided to throw a little party for my dad's birthday yesterday, I jumped at the opportunity. Even though it requires a little bit more effort, I really like the idea of these individual baked cheesecakes. Here's the recipe!

The recipe says that it makes a dozen little cheesecakes, but I was able to make 18. Score!

125 g Tennis Biscuit crumbs
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
450g ricotta cheese
450g cream cheese, softened
2 tsp vanilla essence
175 g icing sugar, sieved
3 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C. Place 12 paper cases in a muffin tin. Put the biscuit crumbs into a medium bowl and stir in the bitter. Spoon tablespoons of the crumb mixture into the cases, pressing firmly into the bottom. Chill until set.
2. In a large bowl, beat the ricotta until smooth. Add the cream cheese, vanilla and icing sugar, blending until smooth.
3. Slowly add the eggs, blending well.
4. Spoon the mixture into the cases.
5. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove tin from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the paper cases and cool on a rack.

The recipe doesn't call for any sort of sauce on top of the cheesecakes, but I like the sweet, tangy fruit combined with the rich cheese so I made my own strawberry sauce. Any fruit can be used in place of the strawberries though.

Sauce:
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp water
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
a pinch of salt
2 cups fresh strawberries

In a saucepan, blend the cornstarch and 1 tbsp water, then add sugar, salt and remaining water. Cook the mixture over a low heat until clear and slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Add strawberries and boil for 3 minutes or until fruit is slightly softened.

Cheesecake recipe from my cupcake bible, 500 Cupcakes by Fergal Connolly.