Perfect Dessert for a House Party - Individual Cheese Cakes

Individual Choco Chip Cheese Cakes topped with Caramel Sauce

Hii..
I am very sure many of you occasionally have a house party. If you are like me who love to cook each dish for the guests then this one is an ideal choice for Dessert because you can get it done the previous day.

I am specially a fan of Individual Cheesecakes (than a normal 9 inch one) because serving this is very convenient.

In this one I have topped it with Caramel Sauce and Chocochips, you can try doing it with other toppings like Blueberry, Strawberry, Chocolate Sauces or Lemon Curd. This Cheesecake can act as a base to many flavours.

The recipe has THREE PARTS. I have borrowed it from three different websites and COMBINED it according to my requirements. One being the Home-made Cream Cheese, Second the Caramel Sauce and Third the Individual Cheesecakes themselves.

I have compiled here the three parts together for convenience..

Note: You can skip the 1st part if you are using ready-made cream cheese.

INDIVIDUAL CHOCO-CHIP CHEESECAKES TOPPED WITH CARAMEL SAUCE


Makes: 12-16 Individual Cheese Cakes

PART ONE  - Home Made Cream Cheese (Skip this part of you are using Ready-made Cream cheese)

Ingredients:
Paneer/ Cottage Cheese - 400grams
Yoghurt / Curd – 3/4 cup

Procedure:
1. Take paneer in a mixer and Grind it to a smooth paste.
2. Add in the curd or yogurt and grind it further.
3. Place a sieve over a bowl and line it with cheese cloth and pour in the mixture and cover it up nicely
4. Put it in fridge overnight and Discard the water collected in the bowl often
5. Remove from cloth – Cream Cheese is ready.

PART TWO - Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar

6 Tablespoons (90g) salted butter, cut up into pieces

1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream

Procedure:
1. Heat granulated sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a high heat resistant rubber spatula or wooden spoon.

Wobble Test

2. Sugar will form clumps and eventually melt into a thick brown, amber-colored liquid as you continue to stir. Be careful not to burn.
3. Once sugar is completely melted, immediately add the butter. Be careful in this step because the caramel will bubble rapidly when the butter is added.
4. Stir the butter into the caramel until it is completely melted, about 2-3 minutes.
5. Very slowly, drizzle in 1/2 cup of heavy cream while stirring. Since the heavy cream is colder than the caramel, the mixture will rapidly bubble and/or splatter when added.
6. Allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute. It will rise in the pan as it boils.

7. Remove from heat and allow to cool down before using.
8. Cover the caramel tightly and store for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. Warm the caramel up for a few seconds before using in a recipe.

PART THREE – The Individual Cheesecakes

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

100 gms Oreo Biscuits – Powdered in a Grinder

70 gms melted butter (sated/unsalted)

Cooling on Wire rack

For the Filling:
450 gms Cream Cheese
2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (120 ml) Hung Curd/Sour Cream, room temperature
1/2 cup Chocolate Chips

Note: To prepare hung curd take yoghurt..tie in a muslin cloth and hang it over the basin or a bowl so that the extra water drips out for around 1 hour

Procedure:
1. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Crust: In a small bowl combine the Oreo biscuit crumbs and melted butter. Press a heaping tablespoon of crumbs onto the bottoms of the 12 muffin cups. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

3. Filling: In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the cream cheese on low speed until creamy and smooth. Add the sugar and salt and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the vanilla extract, Hung Curd and beat until incorporated. Mix the Choco chips. Remove the crusts from the refrigerator and evenly divide the filling among the 12 muffin cups.

4. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and place oven rack in the centre of the oven

5. Bake (12 at a time) for about 18 - 22 minutes or until firm but the centres of the cheesecakes still wobble a little. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Let cool and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (a few hours or even overnight).

6. To serve, gently peel off the paper liners and place on your serving plate

7. Now top it with the slightly warm Caramel Sauce and few Choco chips.

Note: The catch here is that the Cheesecakes should not be under done or over done. The baking time varies for each oven. You need to do the Wobble Test. If you shake the baking dish slowly, the centre of the cheesecakes should wobble(like a jelly) while the sides should be firm.

Top it with the Caramel Sauce

You can prepare the cheese cakes and keep it refrigerated and serve it the next day.. Just before you plate the cakes top it with the Caramel Sauce (Warm the Sauce a bit)
Hope you try it out at the next house party.. Do let me know.. Thanks n Ciao!!