Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and nothing says love like red berries and chocolates. But lets just put them in a Desi way by making our Indian Cheesecake like dessert -Bengali “Misti Doi” (Sweetened Yogurt). The texture of Misti Doi is very much similar to cheesecake and tastes amazing. Traditionally, Misti Doi is steamed and is also called Bhapa Doi (Bhapa meaning steam). We can also bake it for few minutes or steam it in oven or stove top. Sugar is caramelized with full cream milk and mixed with yogurt and is steamed to give this luscious and caramel colored Misti Doi. Here, we are using hung yogurt and condensed milk for ease and flavoring it with raspberry sauce and white chocolate. Misti Doi is so versatile that you can use any flavor with it like mango, strawberry, pineapple, chocolate, rose or just plain vanilla. So, do not let anything (or ingredient) to stop you from making this delicious dessert.

These are made in mini sizes to be perfect for two. Easy to make, healthy ingredients, lite and delicious to taste. I used chocolate flavored biscuits for the base, white chocolate flavored yogurt for first layer and raspberry flavored yogurt for second layer. Top it off with fun chocolate carvings in heart shape. This recipe has many elements but they are all breeze to make. So make a little effort on this Valentine’s Day and enjoy with your loved ones.

This recipe is inspired from here: http://www.passionateaboutbaking.com/2013/07/cherry-yogurt-tart.html

Requires 4 mini tart pans with removable base of 3.5″ x 0.63″size or can make one 6″ tart pan.

Ingredients:

For Raspberry Sauce:

Frozen/Fresh Raspberry: 1/2 cup
Honey: 2 tbsp
Lemon: 1 tsp
Water: 1/2 cup
Cornstarch: 1 tsp

For Biscuit Base:
Chocolate Flavored Biscuits: 10-12 (I used Bourbon Biscuits)
Melted Butter: 2 tbsp

For Misti Doi Cheesecake:

Hung Yogurt: 1/2 cup (Take 1 cup of regular yogurt and hung in muslin cloth for 6 hours at least, in refrigerator)
Regular Yogurt: 1/4 cup
Condensed Milk: 1/2 cup
Raspberry Sauce: 2 tbsp (Can also use store bought Raspberry Preserve)
Melted White Chocolate: 2 tbsp
Vanilla Extract: 1/2 tsp

For Chocolate Hearts:

Dark Chocolate Chips: 1/4 cup
White Chocolate Chips: 1/4 cup
Frozen Raspberry: a few

Procedure:

For Raspberry Sauce:

1. In sauce pan, bring raspberries, honey and water to boil.
2. Make a slurry of cornstarch and little water and add to the sauce pan and let the sauce thicken.
3. Let it cool, blend and sieve. You can store this sauce in air-tight bottles for many weeks in refrigerator

.

For Biscuit Layer:

1. In blender, add roughly crushed biscuits, melted butter and pulse until it resembles wet sand.
2. Grease the tart pans with oil and press the biscuit mixture evenly into the base of the tart pan.
3. Chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

For Misti Doi Cheesecake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F/180C
2. In a bowl, whisk together hung yogurt, regular yogurt, condensed milk and vanilla extract until smooth.
3. Transfer the half of the mixture to another bowl.
4. In first bowl add melted white chocolate and in second bowl add raspberry sauce.
5. Pour the first mixture on the biscuit layer and then the second mixture.
6. Pour one or two drops of raspberry sauce on the top and with a tooth pick make swirls.
7. Bake them for 10 minutes or until the top looks set when touched but jiggly. If not set, bake for more 5 minutes.
8. Let chill for two hours at least or 6 hours for the best results.

For Chocolate Hearts:

1. Layer a tray with wax/parchment paper.
2. Melt the dark chocolate in microwave or double boiler until smooth.
3. Pour it in zip-loc bag and make a small hole with scissors. Quickly draw heart shapes on the wax paper. Press some crushed raspberry on the top of the chocolate.. Refrigerate until set.
4. Similarly, melt white chocolate and make heart shapes and swirl with raspberry sauce.

For Plating:

Brush some raspberry sauce on the serving plate, place one cheesecake on it and serve with fresh berries and chocolate hearts.

Notes:

1. You can make it in bowls or glasses or silicon molds.
2. You can steam it by placing the bowls or glasses in pot of hot water. The water should reach half the height of glass. It may take 20 minutes on medium heat or until top looks set but jiggly.