Smoked salmon & Avocado cheesecake

A kid friendly appetizer for parties and family gathering: mini savory cheesecakes. A traditional butter and crackers base with a very fluffy mix of cheeses topped with smoked salmon and avocado. The final result is beautiful (your guests will be impressed, hi hi!) and you can prepare the mini cheesecakes in advance the day before the party.

My kids really like smoked salmon (wild caught without added colors), that’s why I opted for it. If you do not like the salmon+avocado combination, you can substitute it with ham+cheese (fontina/gouda/cheddar).

I also decided to create a light cheese mix for the filling, instead of the traditional 100% cream cheese (a bit too heavy for my taste). I mixed ricotta cheese with cottage cheese and cream cheese. Much, much better 😉

Also, as I didn’t have mini cheesecake molds at home I simply made them with some aluminum foils and a round shape cookie cutter as a sample, but you can use a round shape glass too. it will work too!!

Print

Smoked salmon & Avocado cheesecake

Servings: 10 mini cheesecakes

Ingredients

• Crackers 3.5 oz. 100gr.
• Butter 4 Tbsp 60gr.
• Ricotta cheese 8 oz. 200gr.
• Cottage cheese 4 oz. 100gr.
• Cream cheese 5 oz. 150gr.
• Smoked salmon 4 oz. 100gr.
• Avocado 1
• Aluminum foil + round cookie cutter for the molds

Instructions

1. To build the mini cheesecake molds: cut the aluminum foil in 12x5 inch rectangles.
   
2. Fold the aluminum foil forming a 1 inch heigh long strip.
   
3. Roll the strip around the cookie cutter, not too tight.
   
4. Gently remove the cookie cutter and close your new mini mold with some tape. Do not worry, we are not going to bake our cheesecakes so both aluminum and tape will be safe to use.
   
5. Place the crackers in a plastic bag and mash them with a kitchen hammer. You are looking for a breadcrumbs consistency.
   
6. Place the mashed crackers in a medium size bowl and add the melted butter. Mix and set apart.
   
7. 
8. 
9. Prepare a baking sheet with some parchment paper on top and line the aluminum molds one next to the other with some space in between.
   
10. Add 1 Tablespoon of cracker mix in each mold and tap them gently with the bottom of a glass to compact them as much as possible.
    
11. 
12. In a medium size bowl add the three cheeses: ricotta, cottage cheese and cream cheese. Mix well to obtain a nice smooth cream.
    
13. 
14. Add 3 Teaspoons of cheese mix on top of each cracker base in order to fill the molds.
15. Level the surface and refrigerate the mini cheesecakes for at least 2 hours, you want the cheesecakes to get firm.
    
16. Lay some smoked salmon slices on a cutting board and using the round shape cookie cutter cut out as many circles as the number of your cheese cakes. in my case, 10.
    
17. Slice some ripe avocado and cut out some holiday shapes using small cookie cutters (fondant cookie cutters)
    
18. Remove the cheese cakes from the refrigerator and gently, using a knife, remove the aluminum mold.
    
19. Top the cheesecakes with the salmon and with the avocado decoration. Serve and enjoy!!
    
20.