A few weeks ago, one of my blogger friends sent me a message encouraging me to go to foodiefights.com. This is a battlefield for competitive bloggers. I don’t like to think of myself as competitive, but who am I kidding? I’m a surgeon. We were born competitive. We dream competitive. I had to do it.

Previous battles have been lemon and potatoes, and rhubarb and coriander. These do not sound so difficult to me. Unfortunately, they asked me, when I signed up for this month’s battle, what food would I throw into the ring. Cauliflower?! I had so much of it in the refrigerator I did not know what to do with it. I belong to an organic food club, and cauliflower and apples have been heavily featured lately. Someone else came up with the raspberries, trust me. What a combination. It set me quite a challenge.

I thought about it a lot. I knew I could easily make a cauliflower slaw with raspberry dressing and be done with it. But, well, did I mention that I’m a surgeon? I can’t just take the easy way out. I needed to come up with something creative, different, unexpected. I hashed over ideas. Could I make cauliflower into a dessert? How about gnocchi, ravioli, a souffle? Ice cream? I’m sure any of these would have worked out. But could I get anyone to eat cauliflower ice cream with raspberry sauce?

On Saturday, inspiration hit. I had been wanting one of those mini cheesecake pans for weeks now. I looked for it at Sur la Table, Target, the King Arthur website. No luck. Even Williams-Sonoma’s website no longer had it. So I went to the Williams-Sonoma in Coral Gables this weekend, to see if they still had one. And they did! And that’s when it came to me – cheesecake! Cauliflower cheesecake. Not sweet. Not heavy. Mini ricotta-cauliflower cheesecakes. But how to include the raspberries? A sauce would be possible, but, well, lame. And how could I be sure it would go well. Be truly delicious. I was not seeking to just meet the criteria, but to create a dish worth eating and enjoying.

So, here it is: a triple-layer ricotta cauliflower mini cheesecake. And believe me, it was delicious. The flavors went well together. It was pretty. It smelled amazing while it was baking.

I made home-made ricotta, because I had been dying to try it since the Daring Cooks challenge made ricotta gnocchi (no, I did not participate this time around, but expect upcoming participation!) You don’t have to. I feel certain grocery store ricotta would be fine. But, really, it was so easy, I’d do it again in a heartbeat. In fact, the next time I make gnudi, I will definitely make it.

I won’t bore you with the recipe, since I blatantly used this one: 101 Cookbooks ricotta recipe. Try it.







I made an almond crust, since I thought graham cracker crust would not go well with cauliflower. This is a nice quick crust. No rolling. Just press it into the pan. For the mini cheesecakes, line each of the cups with a circle of parchment paper. Flatten a ball of dough onto the parchment paper and fit it into the bottom of the cup. You could use a muffin pan if you don’t have a mini cheesecake pan. Make sure you spray it well with non-stick spray.

Almond Crust
Makes 1 9 inch crust

2 ounces almonds
1/2 cup flour
3 tbsp unsalted butter, ice cold, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 egg yolk

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚
2. Toast the almonds and let them cool
3. Place the almonds and flour in the food processor and pulse until the almonds are fine
4. Add the butter and pulse about 15 seconds, just until incorporated
5. Add the egg yolk and pulse another 15-20 seconds, until the dough balls up
6. Gather up the dough and press into the pan
7. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the crust is set and golden brown
8. Let cool

Triple Layer Cauliflower and Raspberry Mini Cheesecakes
Makes 12

2 ounces fresh or frozen raspberries
1/4 cup champagne vinegar
1 small head purple cauliflower
1 small head white cauliflower
2 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
2 cups ricotta cheese
6 tbsp creme fraiche
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 eggs separated
Freshly grated rind of one lemon
1 tbsp chopped shallots
1 tbsp fresh herbs (I used savory and garlic chives)
1 tsp horseradish
salt and pepper to taste

1. Macerate the raspberries in a bowl and add the champagne vinegar. Refrigerate overnight
2. Preheat the oven to 375˚
3. Chop the purple and white cauliflower into florets. Place in a baking dish and toss with the oil.
4. Roast for 30 minutes, until slightly browned and fragrant. Let cool
5. In a food processor, mix the ricotta, flour, creme fraiche, egg yolks, fresh herbs, and lemon rind until well blended and creamy
6. Split this mixture between 3 bowls. Add shallots and horseradish to 2 of the bowls
7. Put about 1 cup of white cauliflower into the food processor and chop finely. Pour into one of the bowls with shallots in it
8. Repeat with the purple cauliflower
9. In the third bowl, add the macerated raspberries with about 1 tbsp of the vinegar. Add additional lemon peel
10. Add salt and pepper to taste to each of the three bowls
11. Whip the egg whites until stiff. Distribute between the 3 bowls and fold in to lighten
12. Layer the purple, then the white, then the raspberry layer into the pan
13. Bake for 30 minutes at 350˚. They are done when set and golden on the top