Cheesecake
So, I did mention early on that I would be blogging about food too, but I really haven’t done much yet.
I like to make cheesecakes. There aren’t many ingredients to a basic recipe, and I hate to follow recipes anyway. But, baking is different than cooking. You can add more ingredients to a stew if it’s “missing something.” You can only add more garnish to a cake. Even when a cake is under baked, it’s done. Everything needs to be correct up front. So, how do you get creative with this? I have a basic recipe that I use for a canvas, and then I play around from there.
Pan preparation:
I have two spring form pans, one is 7”, and the other is 10”. Most of my recipes are for my ten inch pan.
I use baker’s parchment on the bottom and sides of the pan. The bottom can usually be covered by placing the parchment inside, then closing the side of the pan down. I use a very small amount of canola oil on the sides of the pan to help the parchment stick. I just dip my finger in the oil and rub my finger on the pan. There is no need for more.
It’s okay if the parchment is higher than the sides of the pan. I’ll cut a piece of parchment down the middle and this leaves the paper 3” or so above the pan. Let the ends of the parchment overlap so that the batter can’t seep through. A little bit of canola oil between the ends of the parchment helps it to hold its shape.
The crust gets put into the pan next.
Crusts
Cheesecake can be well complimented by a wide variety of crusts, or the crust can be omitted. I have used a regular graham cracker crust, and it’s easy.
Two cups of Graham crumbs
½ a stick of butter, melted.
Mix the two together, and then push the crust into the bottom of the pan. If you have more crumbs, you can shape the crust up the side of the pan.
I like to use a variety of cookies for the crust. I’ll grind up 365 brand gingersnaps and add the butter as above for a citrus cheesecake. I’ll use Oreo or plain chocolate cookies ground up in a food processor for most types of cheesecake. If I do a coconut cheesecake I’ll put coconut into the crumbs about 3:1 crumbs to coconut. When I do an almond or a hazelnut cheesecake I’ll put ground nuts into the crumbs at equal portions or less. The nuts can be lightly toasted, but they are going to bake so don’t over toast them.
The pan then goes into the oven at 300 for 10 minutes or so to set the crust. The crust will be easily shaped further while it is still warm.
Batter:
This is my basic recipe.
Four packets of cream cheese (one pound) at or close to room temperature (Product shot: I like to work with Philadelphia the most, but I do use organic brands for my wife.)
4 eggs
Put the cream cheese in a strong mixer and mash it until it’s creamy. Then add the eggs and get the batter to a uniform consistency. If your mixer is straining, then add the eggs or let the cream cheese get a little warmer – the colder it is, the harder it will be for your mixer. I’ve blown out a few motors by trying to rush things. I now use a Kitchen Aid Pro mixer.
To finish off a very basic cheesecake, I add one cup of sugar and 1-2 tablespoons of vanilla and mix it well. If you want a basic cake, then add the sugar with the cream cheese early on.
I will often not put the sugar in at the beginning. Wait, No Sugar?!? I sometimes don’t use sugar and use coffee syrups instead. If I am using new flavours, I will add the sweeteners LAST. If I am adding fresh fruit to the mix, I get the fruit pulp into the cheesecake and then determine if the batter is too sour or if I think it really needs more sugar. Maple syrup and molasses will also work, but the flavour is much stronger than regular sugar so you might need to mix the various sugars to taste.
BECAUSE, my real trick with cheesecake is that I finally figured out that the batter will TASTE very similar raw compared to how it will taste fully baked. So, I taste the batter often while making a new flavour (yes, raw eggs and all. Use your own discretion, but that’s my secret to working with a new flavour of cheesecake). So, if the batter tastes slightly more sour than I want after putting in fruit, I will then add an additional 1/4c of sugar for every 1c of fruit like strawberries or blueberries but I add the sugar one tablespoon at a time and I taste it after each tablespoon and when I like the flavour, I stop. Actual sour fruit would probably need much more sugar to get a batter to my taste.
Some recipes will call for jams, and I will do this again adding slowly until I like the look and taste. Things like peach jam will be overwhelmed and too subtle, so I prefer to use the actual fruit. On the other hand, I prefer to use seedless raspberry jam as the batter will have an almost sandy texture if I use the actual fruit. When using jam, flour will almost certainly need to be added, about 1 tbsp for each cup of fruit.
Consistency is a bit of a trick. I want the batter to be more on the stiff side. I go for a honey consistency. If the batter is too liquid after adding my flavourings, I will add a tablespoon of flour at a time until the batter looks a little more gelatinous. I never add more than 3 tablespoons of flour.
If the batter is liquid, it will bake, but it will probably need more time and it’s harder to try to make the batter a little bit fancier. Fruit and nuts will fall to the bottom, and any attempt to mix contrasting colours and flavours will just make a mess unless the batter has some ability to stand up.
Some batters will come out very stiff, and that’s okay. For a chocolate cheesecake, I will put 1 lb of dark chocolate in a pan with three tablespoons of butter and 1c of sour cream. I’ll add a 1/4c of cocoa when the chocolate has melted. I keep the stove top on at the lowest possible heat and I stir often and usually turn off the heat and let the chocolate finish melting without direct heat. Use a double boiler otherwise, but don’t get any water in the chocolate. This will make a bit of a ganache consistency, which makes adding the chocolate to the cream cheese much easier. When the chocolate mixture is added to the colder cream cheese, the batter will get very stiff and a spoon will stand up in it as melted chocolate will solidify, but will become liquid again during baking. I don’t use the melted chocolate without something added to it to make it more liquid, as it will become a very solid lump as it gets rapidly cooled. You have been warned by the voice of bad experience.
You can add nuts if you like, but put them in before the chocolate. I’ll use Hazelnut coffee syrup for this batter and there is no problem with the extra liquid. Do not add any flour; you won’t need it for this one. The chocolate will melt and the batter will become smoother during baking, so there is no need to mash the batter down in the pan. So, pay attention to your ingredients.
I have divided the basic batter into two or three and then added different flavourings to each one. One batter can be a little more liquid than another, but batters still need to be soft enough to be mixed when a knife is run through the batter at the end. Pour a portion of the batter in, and then add spoonfuls of another, then more of another batter until the pan is filled (read below first). Don’t try to make the various dollops too small, or there will be no distinction between them. Take a butter knife and swirl through the cheesecake a few times, trying not to scratch the crust.
Baking:
The whole pan gets set on tin foil and the foil closed up around the sides (not over the top obviously). The pan then gets set in a roasting pan with water on the bottom of the roaster. I have heard of water being put half way up the pan, I do an inch of water because my roaster is shallow.
The batter gets poured in, and then the roaster pan with water and cake goes back into the oven at 300 for an hour and a half. Check the cake very infrequently because the steam will be released ever time the door to the oven is opened. I use the convection bake setting on our gas oven, but I’m not certain how much that matters if you don’t have an oven with this setting.
Let the cake cool down fully before opening the pan. I let mine cool for an hour, then refrigerate overnight.
Decoration: Be careful with caramel or chocolate as these will be stronger and harder to cut than the actual filling and the cake will be crushed out of shape when you try to cut it. I will melt the chocolate and then take a spoonful and wave it over the top to get very fine threads of chocolate. Crushed nuts, chocolate flakes and candy can be put on top quickly while the chocolate is still not fully cooled, then add more chocolate threads overtop again.
I have done glazes in the past, but rarely.
3/4c of water
2 tbsp of cornstarch or some other thickener like kudzu
sugar to taste, about 1/2c but some fruit requires more.
2c of whatever fruit you wish to use, divided with half the fruit crushed up.
Heat the water and sugar in a pan, take half the fruit and crush it. Then, take the other half of the fruit and place it on the cake top then pour the glaze over top. You might prefer to leave the side of the pan on for this step. Then, refrigerate the cake again for two hours or more.
Specific recipes available if anyone wants them.
Chocolate almond cheesecake
Four packs of creamcheese
four eggs
Mix these two at room temperature in a mixer
16oz of dark chocolate
3oz of butter
1c sour cream
Melt the butter and chocolate together in a saucepan, then add the sourcream when the chocolate is liquid.
1 1/2c ground almonds lightly toasted
1 1/2c chocolate cookie crumbs
1/2 stick of butter
Mix the crumbs and ground nuts together, then add the butter. Press the butter into the pan and bake at 300 for ten minutes. While waiting, add:
Almond coffee syrup to taste (about 1/4 to 1/2c) to the cream cheese mixture
Scrap the chocolate mixture into the creamcheese mixure. You can add additional chopped almonds to the batter at this step. Bake in a pan prepared as above for 90 minutes on 300 (specific baking instructions mentioned above).
Red, White and Blue Cheesecake for July 4th, 2011
This cake starts like my basic, then gets divided into three equal parts. I would probably try each piece in isolation in the future.
Graham crust as above.
Four packages of cream cheese
Four eggs
1c sugar
Take three bowls and divide the batter into three, about 1 1/2c per bowl
1st bowl Do nothing, maybe add some vanilla
2nd bowl Add 1c purreed strawberries and maybe some food colour
Add 1-2 tbsp of flour to make the batter thicker
Then, add 1/4c of sugar to help the sweetness of needed.
3rd bowl Add 1c purreed blueberries and maybe some food colour
Add 1-2 tbsp of flour to make the batter thicker
Then, add 1/4c of sugar to help the sweetness if needed
With 2-3 tbsps of flour, you should be able to add fresh berries without them sinking to the bottom
Prepare the pan and crust as mentioned above, then add the different batters a part at a time. Make sure the batters don't over mix and are stiff enough to be around other colours. Run a knife through the batter at the very end of all the pouring, then directly into the oven at 300 for 90 minutes, using the water bath as described above.
Chocolate hazelnut cheesecake pieces.
Use a heartshaped mold in a water bath and use hazelnut coffee syrup or frangelico for the sweetness
Plain cheesecake with Raspberry collis
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