Name: Easter Mini Cassata Cheesecakes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 16
Cuisine: Italian, American
Ingredients: Filling:; 4 eggs; 1 pound (16 ounces) Ricotta whole milk cheese; 12 chopped maraschino cherries blotted dry; 1 small chocolate bar chopped into chunks; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 2/3 cup sugar; Place eggs in a bowl with the sugar and beat for 3 minutes. Fold in the cherries, chocolate, and vanilla set aside.; Garnish:; 1 beaten egg for the top; Crust:; 2 - 1/2 cups flour; 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon; 3/4 cup milk; 1 stick of butter (1/4 pound); 3/4 cups of sugar; 1 tablespoon baking powder

I love to make an assortment of Italian pastries for Easter, and these Mini Cassata Cheesecakes are just perfect for smaller families.

Every year I use to make mom's Easter Cassata in her memory which is very large and now with two people, I just make them in this smaller version and freeze them.

I still make Grandma's Easter Bread, which is another Italian tradition we do every year.

I can take out what I need and they taste just as fresh as first baked after thawing in the refrigerator.

This year I made it just a little different.

This custard ricotta filling is perfect in these little cupcake tins for individual servings and so cute!

It's just a little more festive looking. I added a little bunny baked into my little cheesecakes.

The children loved them. They make such a pretty addition to the dessert platter of baked treats for our dessert tray.

Scroll through our tips, easy instructions, and printable recipe below.

Mini Easter Cheesecakes made with ricotta cheese. These are an Italian pastry made at Easter called Cassata

Our Italian tradition for Easter Cassata

Cassata is a light cheesecake made with ricotta cheese, fruits, and chocolate baked in a crust like a custard-like filling.

Mom always made one loaded with more chocolate than fruit just for me.

I have adapted the recipe to make individual servings which is super easy and can be decorated with a cookie cutter to make cute Easter shapes on top!

Additions and Suggestions: Making Mini Cassata Cheesecakes

if you're not fond of cherries, add dried peel called citron fruit, which is a fragrant citrus thick rind used in the authentic large cassata version when baking in many recipes
you can also make them with lemon extract and lemon zest in the ricotta filling
orange extract and orange zest in the ricotta batter
flavor the ricotta with almond extract and leave out the fruits, and add mini chocolate chips
swirl the top of each cassata with raspberry preserves before baking

Shopping List for Making Easter Mini Cassata

eggs: large eggs
Ricotta: whole milk cheese
chopped maraschino cherries blotted dry: or glazed cherries
chocolate bars: chopped chunky without nuts
vanilla: pure extract
sugar: granulated
Garnish:
egg wash for the top
Crust:
flour: AP flour
cinnamon: ground
milk: whole milk
butter: salted butter
sugar: granulated
baking powder: a leavening agent

Tools You Will Need to Make Mini Italian Cheesecakes

muffin tin non-stick (cupcake tin or muffin tin)
cookie cutters with rabbits or carrots, whatever you like, for making festive dough toppers, this is optional
pastry wheel to cut strips instead of using a cookie cutter or use a pizza cutter
rolling pin: regular plastic or wooden, keep dusted with flour to prevent sticking
cutting board: to roll out the dough
mixing bowls: for the filling
measuring cup: important to measure ingredients correctly
measuring spoons: tools for precise measuring

These are the bunny cutouts placed on top of the Ricotto custard for the cassata pie

Tips for Mini Cassata Cheesecakes

use whole milk ricotta cheese, it's once a year splurge the calories
always preheat the oven first
generously oil spray the non-stick style muffin tins(I use a porcelain lined tin)
do not over flour or overwork the dough or it will be hard
these freezes well, just cool add to a cookie tray freeze until solid then place in freezer bags with wax paper between them
if using a cookie cutter, bake around 5 minutes in the preheated oven then add the cutout or it will sink

this is lining the cookie dough into cupcakes tin for Easter cassata

More Creative Recipes to Try:

Ice Cream Cone Easter Baskets

Doll Cakes

Halloween Party Foods

Valentine's Day Recipe Roundup

Easter Mini Cassata Cheesecakes Pin for later

Making Mini Cheesecake Fun

We still enjoy cooking together every chance we get. Now I have grandchildren to look forward to making some more memories with to pass on traditions.

Every year gets better with the memories we make, and it is the foundation we build together for our future kids to carry on what we all started.

I carried on my mom's traditions she instilled in all of us and now it's my turn to do the same and so far, I am thrilled my family continues with the same vision.

Check out our cute little Easter baskets we make from ice cream sugar cones!

mini cheesecake, mini cassata, Italian pastries, Italian cassata, mini Italian pastries

Italian pastry, Easter desserts, Ricotta desserts, mini pastry dessert

Italian, American

Yield: 16

Author: Claudia Lamascolo

Easter Mini Cassata Cheesecakes

These are mini versions of Italian Cassata. During Easter, this is a popular Italian pastry, and for the smaller family version of the larger cheesecake

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 35 MinTotal time: 45 Min

Ingredients

Filling:
4 eggs
1 pound (16 ounces) Ricotta whole milk cheese
12 chopped maraschino cherries blotted dry
1 small chocolate bar chopped into chunks
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup sugar
Place eggs in a bowl with the sugar and beat for 3 minutes. Fold in the cherries, chocolate, and vanilla set aside.
Garnish:
1 beaten egg for the top
Crust:
2 - 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup milk
1 stick of butter (1/4 pound)
3/4 cups of sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder

Instructions

Dough:
Mix everything in a bowl, the dough will be very soft, you will need to keep adding additional flour so it doesn't stick while rolling.
Cut out as many cookie-cutter tops that you need and set them aside.
I made around 16 cupcake mini cassata cheesecakes.
Oil spray cupcake tins.
Roll out the dough to fit the tins to fit the bottom of each cupcake tin. Brush with beaten egg wash for a shiny top.
Ricotta Batter:
In a clean bowl, just mix the ricotta, eggs, sugar, vanilla until combined fold in the cherries, chocolate.
Spoon a little in each cup, top with bunnies or a lattice dough see note below.
Bake at 350 for 25 to 35 minutes until golden brown on top.
NOTE: If you have additional batter leftover and dough, make a small cassata using a small pie plate. I usually have filling leftovers.
If using a cookie cutter, bake these cassata for around 5 minutes in the preheated oven, before adding the cutout on top, or it will sink
Optional Suggestions:
if you're not fond of cherries, add dried peel called citron fruit which is a fragrant citrus thick rind used in the authentic large cassata version when baking in many recipes
make them with the addition of lemon extract and lemon zest in the ricotta filling
orange extract and orange zest in the ricotta batter
flavor the ricotta with almond extract and leave out the fruits, and add mini chocolate chips
swirl the top of each cassata with raspberry preserves before baking

Nutrition Facts

Calories

276

Fat (grams)

8 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

4 g

Carbs (grams)

43 g

Fiber (grams)

1 g

Net carbs

42 g

Sugar (grams)

21 g

Protein (grams)

7 g

Sodium (milligrams)

180 mg

Cholesterol (grams)

72 mg

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