Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake with Shortbread Crust

Occasions give me a reason to bake and since it was the boy’s birthday, I had to make something.

This year, I made lemon ricotta cheesecake cupcakes with a shortbread crust and a blueberry compote glaze. This was an ode to a breakfast treat aka lemon ricotta pancakes. Scroll through for the recipe!

Crust:

– 2 sticks of butter, cubed

– 1 1/4 cup flour

– 1/2 cup powdered sugar

*note: I cut this recipe in half because I wasn’t making a big batch

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. In a food processor, combine the butter, flour, and sugar
3. Once combined, scoop some of the crust mixture and press it into a cupcake liner. Make sure that it is tightly packed. This will fill up about 10-12 cupcake liners
4. Once you have filled the cupcake liners, bake for about 5-7 minutes.
5. Set aside to cool.

Cheesecake Filling:

-12 oz Full-Fat Cream Cheese, softened

-1/2 cup Whole Milk Ricotta

-3/4 cup Sugar

-1 tsp Vanilla Extract

-2 Eggs + 1 Egg Yolk

-1 1/2 tbsp All Purpose Flour

-1/3 cup Fresh Lemon Juice

-1 tsp Fresh Lemon Zest

1. Preheat oven to 325 F
2. In a mixer with a whisk attachment, combine the softened cream cheese and ricotta until smooth. Then add sugar and vanilla until smooth. Throughout the mixing process, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add eggs and egg yolk and beat until the mixture is fully combined.
3. With the mixer off, carefully mix in the flour with a rubber spatula until it is fully combined. Stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice.
4. Divide the filling into the prepared cupcake liners with the par-baked crust. Wiggle the pan to level the filling.
5. Bake for 22-24 minutes.
6. This is important to do. Turn the oven completely off and crack the oven door keeping the cheesecake cupcakes in the oven to cool for about 5 minutes.
7. After 5 minutes, transfer the cheesecake cupcakes to a cooling rack to cook. Then transfer it to the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours.

Blueberry Compote:

-1/2 Fresh Blueberries (You can use frozen blueberries as well)

-2 tbsp of Sugar

-1/4 cup of Water

1. On high heat and in a sauce pan, combine the blueberries, sugar and water. Bring the compote to a boil for a minute then lower the heat to let it simmer. Continue to let it simmer until the compote is of thick consistency. Make sure to stir the pot often.
2. Set aside to cool

Once the cheesecake cupcakes and the blueberry compote has cooled, place the compote on top of each cupcake and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

There you have it, breakfast turned dessert. But really, breakfast is usually an excuse to have dessert as a meal.