Little pumpkins

A few weeks ago, I went to Stephane Martin’s restaurant with a friend, and I had the most amazing lava cake ever. As I told you, I’m not a huge fan of chocolate, and I’d rather have a fruit tart than… well, anything. This lava cake was made for me : not a chocolate one, as you would usually see (although they have one in the restaurant too, and they’re even renowned for it), but made with pumpkin. We spend the whole time wondering how to get the same result, this moist biscuit shell protecting a runny and sweet pumpkin cream (like a crème anglaise).

So we asked (if you know me, then you’ll know that this must have been very good, for me to ask something…). It’s supposed to be prepared exactly like a chocolate lava cake, but with pumpkin. Of course I tried to reproduce it, without success.

So with the rest of the puree I made, I choose to stick with a safer choice. Some spices to remind the taste of a pumpkin pie, some ricotta for it’s mild flavour, and there you go : mini-cheesecakes! Who could say no to their gingerbread base? With their sizes and all the squash packed inside, you can even argue that they are good for you : the ricotta is there for calcium, eggs for the proteins, pumpkin for fibres and dietary minerals. Hum, maybe you wanna skip the sugar in this list… Hey, we all need some sweet moments in life…

Pumpkin and gingerbread cheesecakes
For 6 small cheesecakes

3 oz. gingerbread
2 Tbsp melted butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin spices

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Crumble gingerbread in your mixer. Stir with melted butter until moist clumps form. Press cookie mixture firmly onto bottom of 6 mini-pans.Bake crust until firm and beginning to darken, about 10 minutes. Cool crust.

Beat eggs, ricotta and sugar in large bowl until smooth. Beat in pumpkin and spices until just blended. Pour batter over crust in pans. Place the 6 pans in large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to come halfway up sides of pans. Bake cakes uncovered until filling is puffed around edges and moves slightly in center when pan is gently shaken, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Remove pan from water, let cool. Place hot cheesecake uncovered in refrigerator overnight before serving.


Petits cheesecakes épicés au potiron
Pour 6 petits gateaux

100g de pain d'épice
2 cuillères de beurre fondu
2 œufs
120g de sucre
100g de ricotta
150g de potiron cuit et réduit en purée
1 cuillère de 4 epices

Préchauffez le four à 170°.

Reduisez le pain d'épice en miettes dans un hachoir. Ajoutez le beurre fondu pour obtenir une pâte un peu collante. Repartissez au fond de vos ramequins et pressez bien au fond avec les doigts. Faites cuire 10 minutes et laissez refroidir (sinon vos ramequins risquent de se casser lorsque vous verserez le mélange froid dedans).

Dans un bol, fouettez les oeufs avec le sucre jusqu'à ce que le mélange blanchisse. Ajoutez la ricotta, puis le potiron et les épices, et mélangez bien. Versez la préparation dans les ramequins , et placez les dans un grand plat à rotir. Remplissez le plat d'eau de manière à atteindre la moitié de la hauteur des ramequins. Remettez au four et faites cuire 35 à 40 minutes.

Laissez refroidir les cheesecakes en dehors du bain marie et mettez les au frigo pour la nuit avant de servir.