For edible luxury, it’s hard to top these no-bake cheesecakes.
Ingredients
- 3 ounces bittersweet 72 percent chocolate, such as Trader Joe’s, melted
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened, cut up
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier or rum
- Grated zest of ½ orange or ¼ teaspoon pure orange oil
- ½ cup (4 ounces) heavy cream, very cold
- Chocolate slivers or unsweetened cocoa for topping
Directions
Line a muffin pan with six fluted, foil baking cups. Foil cups will come off easily, but paper cups will stick to the chocolate. Place a scant tablespoon of melted chocolate in each cup. Using a pastry brush, carefully push the chocolate halfway up the sides of each cup as thinly as possible, and cover the base evenly. Refrigerate until set.
Meanwhile, place the cream cheese, brown sugar, Grand Marnier and orange zest in a bowl and set aside. Whip the cream until it holds soft peaks. Using the same beaters, blend the cream cheese mixture until fluffy. Beat one-third of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture to lighten it, then fold in the remainder to make a smooth cream.
Pipe or spoon the mixture into the chocolate shells and top with slivers of chocolate or a light dusting of cocoa. Chill for at least 1 hour. Before serving, gently pull away the foil cups, which will tear but come off readily. Little forks are best for eating these treats.
Cook’s tip: There will be a little melted chocolate left in the bowl. Rather than waste it, mix in a handful of raisins or roasted peanuts with a rubber spatula. Transfer to a sheet of foil and separate the raisins or nuts as much as possible before refrigerating.
Nutrition Analysis: 240 cal, 20 g fat, 50 mg chol, 70 mg sodium, 12 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 9 g sugar, 3 g protein.
Recipes © copyright 2014 by Jacqueline Mallorca
Gluten-Free Living Food Editor Jackie Mallorca has more than a dozen cookbooks to her credit. Her latest titles include The Wheat-Free Cook and Gluten-Free Italian.
