Durian mini cheesecakes.

Being married to my husband has got its perks. For example, we never had to pay a cent for durian. And they are gifted to us as long as they are in stock. Crazy, but good. I remember last year when I got out of confinement, durian was going out of season. This year however, we still have so much even though it's now September!

Taking advantage of the room temperature durians (but don't ask me the species, I only knew they were sweet because I reject bitter durians) I made these mini cheesecakes with the recipe adapted from Foodie Baker. 

Her recipe was adjusted from another source and the measurements were not exact. The recipe yielded 7 muffin-sized cheesecakes for me. She also increased the durian content from the original recipe, when she halved the rest of the ingredients.

As a result, the cheesecakes were very dense with durian, and so creamy, which was delightful! It's not any bit light or fluffy, therefore not the kind of cake my mom would prefer. Making this was rather effortless, but baking was a fussy process. Using low temperature would result in a much longer cooking time, but temperature too high would make the cakes rise too high and crack. I wasn't using the 160 °C consistently, I played around with 150 (too slow) then 160 again (too hot!). As the cakes cook, cracks were seen but since it's a very dense recipe, the cakes fell as it cooled down. If you plan to use any topping, don't worry about the cracks. But if you are particular about them, I suggest you bake the cakes at 150 °C but for 40 minutes or until the top turns golden brown.

Durian Mini Cheesecakes (makes 7 muffins)

250 g cream cheese

30 g icing sugar (you can reduce it as you like so the cake will not end up too sweet, but omitting it totally will make your cake harder to brown)

1 egg

40 g milk

150 g durian flesh (puree it if you wish)

1. Preheat oven to 160 °C.
2. Whip cheese for one minute. Then beat in sugar until it turns light and fluffy.
3. Whip in egg until just incorporated. Slowly mix in milk.
4. Gently fold in durian until just mixed.
5. Pour into muffin cases more than 3/4 full. Bake for 30 minutes or until top browns.