Mmmm. BACON! And Cheesecake too!

Is there anything better in the world than bacon? Well, yes there probably is. However, bacon is something pretty tasty. :) I've recently been into wrapping things in bacon. This is the most recent dish I've done:

Bacon wrapped chicken drumsticks with sweet and spicy pineapple dipping sauce. DE-lish!

Also, I recently revamped a cheesecake recipe that I rather love. My baking and pastry textbook from earlier this semester has the most incredible cheesecake recipe in it. I was thinking the other day about some substition suggestions I had seen for desserts to make them less bad for you. I read somewhere that if you substitue ricotta cheese for half the amount of cream cheese in cheesecake, it cuts the calories in half. Sounds pretty great to me! So I tried it.

I just love my adorable mini springform pans! They make the perfect portion size. One quarter of a cheesecake is just enough that your sweet tooth is satisfied, but you don't overindulge. Anyway, with my cheesecakes oven ready I started to guess at what the finished product would be. I was a little worried that the cheesecake wouldn't be quite as smooth due to the ricotta substitution. Also, I used half and half in my recipe instead of cream, so my batter was a little more runny than usual. After coming out of the oven, I let my cheesecakes cool for 2 hours before topping them with a blackberry/blueberry coulis. Then I let them chill overnight and Voila!

I am glad to say these turned out just as smooth and creamy as any cheesecake I have ever had. Plus they have half the calories. Which, as my adorable roommate stipulated means we can eat twice as much! Everyone wins. :)