Cheesecake Cuties

Since I made all that homemade ricotta, I had to do something with it all,  right?  Right.  What a perfect excuse to make individual gluten-free cheesecakes!

I used a very simple recipe, and one that I kind of made up after reading a dozen or so cheesecake recipe variations online.  Did you know there were 100 different ways and philosophies behind the perfect cheesecake?  Geez.

First, I gathered all the ingredients I would need — all of the homemade ricotta, an 8 oz box of organic neufchatel cheese (you can use this or regular cream cheese), 2 eggs from our backyard, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of homemade vanilla, and the zest of one lemon.

I whizzed all the ingredients together in my Cuisinart until the texture was smooth and creamy.

Next, I buttered six ramekins and dusted them with sugar and spooned some of the cheese mixture into each one.  I placed them in a baking dish and filled up the baking dish with water, half way up the ramekins.  Here they are all ready to go into the 350 degree oven.   Cook them for 40 minutes — and no opening the door!

After they were done cooking, I just took them out of the baking dish and put them in the fridge to cool for 3 hours.  I loosened the sides by running a knife all the way around and then plopped them out onto a plate.

I did two variations — one with a simple fresh raspberry sauce under it, topped with melted chocolate ganache.

And one with just the melted chocolate. 

They both tasted yummy, and looked pretty. Which one do you like better?