My husband’s absolute favorite dessert is ricotta cheesecake. I make it as often as possible for larger events, but it’s not a very practical dessert for two people. Even eating a slice a day, not that we should, for a whole week, I’m still not sure we’d be able to consume the whole thing before it starts to spoil. Then, while browsing through the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, I discovered an amazing fact that would forever change our dessert plans. “A 6-inch cake pan holds nearly exactly half the volume of batter as a more standard 9-inch cake pan.”

With my reduced ricotta cheesecake recipe in hand, I set out to find a 6-inch springpan. Not as easy a task as I expected. After searching store shelves for some time, I concluded the only places they were available were on Amazon or my aunt’s kitchen. Luckily, I was gifted one from the latter. I carefully monitored the baking time, knowing half the recipe never actually means half the cook time. My tiny result was delicious and just enough for four, or in our case, two for dinner with leftovers for the next evening. Be advised, you’ll soon be seeing a number of tiny recipes from me in the future, thanks to my great discovery.

Ricotta Cheesecake for Two (Adapted from Food & Wine)

• 1 lb (16 oz) whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 Meyer lemon
• 3 large eggs, separated

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Generously butter and flour a 6″ spring pan.

In a large bowl, beat ricotta until there are no more lumps. Add sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and egg yolks and continue beating until smooth and combined.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites on high-speed with the mixer until they hold stiff peaks. Fold the whites into the ricotta mixture. Scrape mixture into prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula.

Bake cake for 1 hour, until the cake is deep golden brown and a knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Transfer to the rack to let cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving, at least 6 hours and up to 1 day.