Cute Little Cheesecake for Two

The first time I made cheesecake, it was over-baked and over-browned on the top. When my husband took the first bite, he said "Its good. Is it a brownie?". That's hardly ever a good sign. But anyway, I blamed the recipe for the disaster. That's what happens when one scales down recipes from 16 servings to 2. And that's most often the case, because I am surely not going to use four 8 oz packages of cream cheese for just the both of us (I would never admit it, at least). So when I stumbled across a wonderful cheesecake recipe for just two people, it was immediately bookmarked. My cheesecake recipe is adapted from this awesome site. I used a Wilton Mini Springform Pan which turned out perfect for this recipe. You could also use individual ramekins if you don't like sharing. The secret ingredient here is lemon juice, which increases the sourness and departs a beautiful tangy-sweet flavor to the cheesecake. 

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crumbs - 1/4 cup

Granulated Sugar - 1 Tbsp (for the crust, we'll need some more later)

Butter - 1.5 Tbsp, melted

8 oz pack of Cream Cheese - 1, at room temperature

Granulated Sugar - 1/4 cup

Vanilla Extract - 1/4 tsp

Egg - 1

Lemon Juice - 1 Tbsp

Procedure

1) Start with preheating the oven to 350 F.

2) Mix together graham cracker crumbs, butter and granulated sugar. It should have consistency of wet sand. If it is too dry, throw in some more butter.

3) Grease the sides and base of the springform pan.

4) Cover the base and sides of the pan with aluminium foil. This will prevent water from seeping in the pan.

5) Press the graham cracker mixture at the base of the pan. Set aside.

6) In a bowl, beat together cream cheese (which should be at room temperature), sugar, and vanilla extract with electric mixture on low speed (you could also do this by hand, for a little longer). Continue beating for a minute or so, until the mixture is nice and fluffy. 

7) Add the egg and beat for another 30 seconds on low speed.

8) Add lemon juice and mix together gently with a spatula.

9) Fill a cake pan with hot water enough water to go up to about half the height of the springform pan. This will be your water bath. Trust me, for a crack-free amazing looking moist cheesecake, you need this.

10) Pour the mixture in the springform pan. Place the pan carefully in the water bath.

11) Bake for about 40 minutes (keeping a watch in between), or until the cheesecake is firm around the edges, but wobbly in the center. No toothpick inserting, please!

12) Remove and let it cool until it comes to room temperature. It will start leaving the sides of the pan.

  

13) After the cheesecake has cooled completely, refrigerate it for at least an hour. 

14) Serve it as-is or garnish it with berries or cocoa powder. I added sliced strawberries and also drizzled some chocolate sauce. You could optionally make raspberry or blueberry sauce by heating the preserves, and bringing it to room temperature to pour it over the cheesecake.

15) Enjoy! And don't forget to tell me how it was :)