Hey there! Welcome to Chew on That’s Recipe of the Week! 

Did anyone check out the 30^th anniversary of The Cheesecake Factory the other day? In honor of the day they opened their doors 30 years ago, they were serving cheesecake at $1.50 a slice (the price it was back then). Since each slice now goes for about $7-$8 now, it was definitely worth a stop in.  

While I was indulging in some cheap delicious cheesecake midweek, I thought to myself, how can I make this moment happen more often? Certainly regular trips to The Cheesecake Factory would eventually break the bank, so why not make some cheesecake from scratch?

Recipe after the jump.

So here’s a great recipe that’s made for individual indulgence. “It’s actually from my Chew on That co-writer Maxine, who made it for her New Years feast last year.

 Individual Orange and Chocolate Cheesecakes 

Ingredients 

1/3 C. finely crushed chocolate wafers

2 Tbs. butter, melted

1/4 C. ricotta cheese

2 oz. cream cheese

1/4 C. sugar, plus 2 Tbs.

1 orange, zested

1 egg

Butter, for greasing

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the crushed chocolate wafers and the melted butter. Place a tightly packed teaspoon of the wafer mixture into each mini-muffin cup and press down firmly.

In a food processor combine the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, 1/4 cup of the sugar, half of the orange zest, and the egg. Blend until smooth. Lightly grease the sides of the mini muffin tin with butter. Fill the cups with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the cheesecake mixture. Place the mini muffin tin in a baking dish and pour enough hot water in the baking dish to come halfway up the sides of the mini muffin tin. Bake for 25 minutes. Transfer the mini muffin tin to a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Use a small knife to gently pop the cheesecakes out of the cups.

Just before serving, combine the remaining orange zest with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Top each individual cheesecake with about 1/4 teaspoon of the orange zest mixture and serve.

Recipe adapted from Giadia De Laurentiis on the Food Network.

Serving Size: 6, Preparation Time: 20 minutes, Cooking Time:25  minutes

I hope you enjoy this cheesecake recipe, or at least, for goodness sake, I hope you like cheesecake as much as I do!

And  since this is my first post on So Good blog, I have to say I’ve been reading Jon’s hilarious writing for quite some time now, and it’s an honor to be here, adding to all the chaos (good chaos, that is). I’m so grateful Jon likes Chew on That blog enough to feature us on his blog every week - it’s the ultimate form of flattery and I just can’t thank him enough!