BAKED APRICOT–VANILLA

MINI CHEESECAKES
for 8 cheesecakes
d=6 cm, h=4 cm
 Baked Apricot–Vanilla Mini Cheesecakes
for 8 cheesecakes d=6 cm, h=4 cm

GELATIN MASS

Ingredients Total weight: ~ 14 g 100%

• Powdered gelatin 200 Bloom 2g 14%

• Cold water 12 g 86%

1. Add the powdered gelatin and cold water to a clean container.

Gently stir with a spoon.

2. Place the mixture in the fridge and let it sit there for 10–15 minutes
to allow the gelatin to swell and bloom. Then it’s ready for use.

3. You can make the gelatin mass in advance and store it in the fridge
for up to 2 days.

TIP
• If you have no powdered gelatin to hand, you can use gelatin
leaves instead. Simply use the same weight of gelatin leaves
as you would powdered gelatin and soak them in cold water.
Make sure the leaves are fully covered with water.
• Leave the gelatin leaves to soak for 15 minutes – during this
time, the leaves should absorb exactly the right amount of
water needed. Then squeeze the leaves to remove excess
water and use immediately.

CREAM CHEESE CHANTILLY

Ingredients Total weight: ~ 172 g 100%

• Gelatin mass 6g 3%
• Whipping cream 35% (1) 17 g 10%
• Sugar 12 g 7%
• Cream cheese 65% 45 g 26%
• Whipping cream 35% (2) 92 g 53%

1. Add the whipping cream (1), sugar, and gelatin mass into a bowl.
Heat the mixture to 80 °C / 175 °F in the microwave oven.

2. Strain the hot mixture into a measuring cup. Add the room-
temperature cream cheese and blend everything with a hand
blender until smooth.

TIP
• You can use any type of cream cheese in this recipe. Chef
recommends using full-fat ones, containing at least 30% fat.

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 Baked Apricot–Vanilla Mini Cheesecakes
for 8 cheesecakes d=6 cm, h=4 cm

CREAM CHEESE CHANTILLY

3. Add the cold cream (2) and mix with a silicone spatula to combine.

4. Transfer the mixture into a clean bowl, cover it with plastic wrap
touching the surface of the cream and place in the fridge for at
least 6 hours to stabilize.

SHORTBREAD

Ingredients Total weight: ~ 231 g 100%

• All-purpose flour 100 g 43%

• Butter 82% 55 g 24%
• Icing sugar 40 g 17%
• Almond powder 15 g 6%
• Sea salt 1g <1%
• Whole eggs 20 g 9%

1. Mix the sifted icing sugar, sifted flour, almond powder and the sea
salt in a mixer bowl.

TIP
• Instead of almond powder, you can use any nut powder of your
choice. Alternatively, you can skip this ingredient if you wish –
simply add an extra 15 g of flour to the mixture.

2. Add the cold diced butter and process the mixture into fine powder
using a paddle attachment. Then add the eggs and mix just until
combined.

3. Roll the dough into a layer 2–3 mm thick between two parchment
paper or acetate sheets and bake it at 150 °C / 302 °F for around
15–20 minutes until golden brown.

4. Cool the shortbread down at room temperature and then grind it

into powder in a food processor.

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 Baked Apricot–Vanilla Mini Cheesecakes
for 8 cheesecakes d=6 cm, h=4 cm

CHEESECAKE CRUST

Ingredients Total weight: ~ 175 g 100%

• Shortbread crumbs 160 g 91%

• Butter 82% 15 g 9%

1. In a bowl, combine the shortbread crumbs and soft butter (which

is at 16 °C / 61 °F). Mix everything well with a silicone spatula. The
shortbread mixture should stay crumbly, but at the same time when
you press, it should come together and hold its shape.

2. Prepare a baking tray lined with parchment paper and 8 cake rings
(6 cm in diameter and 4 cm high).

3. Place 20 g of the crumbly mixture into each cake ring and press it
with a bent spoon (or your hands) to form an even layer.

4. Place the cheesecake crusts in the freezer or fridge for around

10–15 minutes.

VANILLA CHEESECAKE MASS

Ingredients Total weight: ~ 605 g 100%

• Cream cheese 65% 360 g 60%

• Egg yolks 48 g 8%
• Whole eggs 60 g 10%
• Whipping cream 35% 80 g 13%
• Sugar 48 g 8%
• All-purpose flour 8g 1%
• Sea salt 0.8 g <1%
• Vanilla 1 pod <1%

1. Place the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix it with
a paddle attachment on the lowest speed until pliable.

2. In a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, vanilla seeds, salt, whole eggs,
egg yolks and cream. Mix with a whisk until homogeneous.

3. With the mixer running on low speed, gradually pour the egg
mixture over the cream cheese, and mix until homogeneous.

4. Pass the cream cheese mass through a sieve into a clean bowl to
remove lumps if any.

5. Use it straight away.

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 Baked Apricot–Vanilla Mini Cheesecakes
for 8 cheesecakes d=6 cm, h=4 cm

ASSEMBLING AND BAKING THE CHEESECAKES

Ingredients

• Stabilized cheesecake crusts

• Vanilla cheesecake mass

1. Take the tray with stabilized cheesecake crusts out of the freezer.

2. Pour the cheesecake mass over the crust (use 75 g of cheesecake

mass per cake ring). Tap the molds slightly to make sure there are
no air pockets between the cream cheese mass and the crust.

3. Bake in the oven with a steam function, preheated to 90 °C /

194 °F, for around 30 minutes. You can check the doneness of
the cheesecake by checking its internal temperature (it should be
around 70 °C / 158 °F) or by gently shaking the tray. The ready
cheesecake should set on the sides but slightly jiggle in the middle.

TIP
• If you don’t have the oven with a steam function, you can
preheat your oven to 120 °C / 248 °F with convection mode
on, pour 2 cups of boiling water into a baking dish and place
it on the bottom of the oven. Then reduce the temperature to
90 °C / 194 °F and bake your cheesecakes.

4. Leave the cheesecakes to cool completely at room temperature.

This will take approximately 1 hour.

5. Then transfer the cheesecakes to the freezer for 5–6 hours until
completely frozen.

6. Take the frozen cheesecakes out of the freezer and remove the
cake rings by gently warming them with a heat gun.

7. Put the frozen cheesecakes in the fridge for 6 hours to defrost.

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 Baked Apricot–Vanilla Mini Cheesecakes
for 8 cheesecakes d=6 cm, h=4 cm

APRICOTS IN SYRUP

Ingredients Total weight: ~ 300 g 100%

• Sugar 50 g 17%
• Honey 50 g 17%
• Water 200 g 66%
• Cinnamon stick 1 pc <1%
• Star anise 1 pc <1%
• Cardamom 3 pcs <1%
• Fresh apricots 4 pcs

1. In a saucepan, bring sugar, honey, spices and water to a boil and

reduce the heat to minimum.

2. Wash and pat dry the apricots, cut them in half, remove the kernels
and add to the syrup. Cook over low heat for about 3–5 minutes,
until the apricots soften and you can remove the skin from them.

3. Take the apricots out of the syrup, remove the skin and place the
apricot halves in a bowl. Allow to cool down at room temperature.

DECORATING THE MINI CHEESECAKES

Ingredients

• Defrosted assembled mini cheesecakes

• Stabilized cream cheese Chantilly
• Apricots in syrup

1. Place the cream cheese Chantilly in the bowl of a stand mixer and
whip it with a whisk attachment until light and voluminous.

2. Transfer the whipped Chantilly into a piping bag fitted with a round
tip 8 mm in diameter.

3. Pipe a dome of Chantilly cream in the center of each cheesecake.

4. Place the apricot halves on top of the Chantilly domes.

5. The finished mini cheesecakes can be stored in the fridge for up to

24 hours.

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