Don’t let their somewhat underwhelming appearance fool you – these rich, intensely chocolatey, little cheesecakes really are heavenly!
Makes 12 little cakes *gluten free
Ingredients
- 500g cream cheese, at room temperature
- 250g dark chocolate
- (45–55% cocoa solids), melted
- 165g caster (superfine) sugar
- 1/8 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 4 eggs
- 200g sour cream
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, plus extra to dust (optional)
- 1 tbsp gluten-free cornflour (cornstarch)
Method
Preheat the oven to 210°C fan-forced and line two 6-hole large muffin tins with paper muffin wrappers.
Place the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and mix until smooth. Add the warm melted chocolate and mix on low speed until combined. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the sugar, salt and vanilla, mixing again until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well and scraping down the side of the bowl after each addition.
In a separate bowl, mix the sour cream until smooth. Sift in the cocoa and cornflour and mix again until smooth. Add this to the cream cheese and chocolate mixture and mix on low speed, scraping down the side of the bowl once or twice, until smooth.
Strain the batter through a sieve into a large jug, discarding any lumps, then divide evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Tap the tins gently on the bench a few times to remove any large air bubbles. Bake in the preheated oven for 10–14 minutes or until the surfaces of the cakes are set and starting to crack, but they are still wobbly in the middle. They cook further as they cool, and it’s better to err on the side of undercooked rather than overcooked with such small cakes.
Serve at room temperature if you like a creamy, soft cheesecake, or serve cold if you prefer something a little more dense.
