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Creating a Perfect Cheesecake


M3brewboy

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I've put a cheesecake photo in my blog... this is the recipe:

250g Philadephia cheese or similar

250g dark chocolate

210g white sugar

120g all purpose flour

180g butter

3 eggs

2 egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

Mix the cheese, 50g of sugar and 1tsp of vanilla for 2 minutes with electric mixer. Add 1 egg and mix well. Put in the fridge until the cocoa batter is ready.

Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave or on hot (not boiling) water and let it cool until warm then add all the left sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla, salt and mix with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Add 2 eggs and 2 yolks one at a time, mixing well in between each addition. Sift the flour and gradually add to egg mixture mixing gently with a wooden spoon.

Grease a 30x20 pan and sprinkle with flour or use parchment paper. Spread the batter (except 1 tablespoon) in the pan, put more batter on the side like a "pie crust". Inside the "brownie crust" spread the cheese mixture. Put the tablespoon of cocoa batter on the cheese mixture to obtain "leopard spot".

Bake at 180°C for 35-40 min, use a toothpick to test if the brownie layer is well cooked: the toothpick has to be dry.

Let the cheesecake cool in the pan and after cut it in squares.

I hope it will be useful. :wink:

Edited by Staximo (log)
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You can make this lots of ways as previously suggested.

You can bake using a raw brownie batter and cheesecake batter layered on top of each other. Give some consideration to the depth of each. For example don't bake a thin cheesecake layer on top of a raw brownie batter because your cheesecake will probably dry out before the brownie layer is done. I'd make them the same thickness if I was making a bar from them.

Or I'd make the brownie as a crust layer (still not pre-baked) and add my deep cheesecake batter and bake as a cheesecake (low temp.).

You could prebake your brownie layer too. Baking it until it's done, then add your cheesecake and bake on low temp. for the cheesecake portion. Your brownie layer won't really bake much more. The raw cheesecake batter will slow down the brownie from baking too much.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm bringing dessert to a party on the weekend, and as usual, I always ask my friends what they would like. They requested cheesecake, but I'm kind of tired of making cheesecakes. Instead, I thought I'd try to compose a dessert that I haven't done before that includes cream cheese as a compromise. :smile:

What I'm picturing right now is a layered caramelized napoleon with some sort of whipped chocolate cream cheese "mousse" (?) sandwiched between the layers, and then I'm going to sprinkle the top of each slice with some fleur de sel. Homemade caramel sauce on the side. I'm open to suggestions, as long as the flavour combinations are not too "out there." (My friends are in their early/mid 20s.)

I'm open to flavour suggestions too...the chocolate/caramel/sea salt thing isn't set in stone. And garnishes...I would love the opportunity to make a plated dessert, especially if the components are things I haven't done before. (Also, I don't like the look of wedge slices on the plate, which is why I'm considering the napoleons.)

Thanks in advance! :smile:

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I think for me personally, the chocolate/creamcheese/caramel/fleur de sel thing might be a little overwhelming...too many things going on there. Of course I am not near the dessert girl that you are, Ling :smile: You'd probably have that for breakfast.

How about Butter Poached Pear Napoleons with Caramel and Fleur de Sel?

My vision is this....a square of puff pastry on the plate, topped with a schmear of slightly sweetened (perhaps with a bit of caramel sauce) mascarpone. Top that with a sliced quarter of a butter poached pear, another sheet of schmear'd pastry, another quarter of a pear and then a final sheet of puff (no schmear) which has been 'painted' with caramelized sugar and topped with a few bits of fleur de sel. You could set the whole thing on top of a pool of Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce...and sprinkle a bit of the salt around the rim of the plate for good measure.

And I have been meaning to ask...have you ever tried the Black Pearl Cake on epicurious? Sesame, Ginger and Wasabi? I saw it and immediately thought of you for some reason :smile:

edited for spelling :)

Edited by Badiane (log)

Don't try to win over the haters. You're not the jackass whisperer."

Scott Stratten

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Since you're going for a cream cheese type of dessert how about a ricotta mascarpone mousse? I'm sure there's a recipe floating around the 'net somewhere. I would do a 2:1 ratio of ricotta to mascarpone.Process the cheeses in a processor ..add with some orange,sugar,maybe some vanilla beans. Whip up some cream and fold it in.

Maybe some Riesling poached pears would be nice with that instead of chocolate.

You could still pair it with a caramel sauce.

Didn't see that Badiane had also suggested pears :rolleyes:

I make a caramel marscapone filling that is just awesome..juat whip one tub of mascarpone with maybe a 1/2 cup of homemade caramel sauce(the sauce should be the same temp as the mascarpone. Or add more until you get the consistency & flavor you like. You could fold some whipped cream to it..but I usually just use the 2 ingredients.

Edited by sugarbuzz (log)
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I made something a while back that was very simple and surprisingly good.

It was a riff off a Napolean, in between the layers was a mascarpone/whipped cream filling, slightly sweetened and flavored with vanilla and chopped candied ginger.

The surprising part, was that the layers were made by briefly broiling cut out rounds (~ 3 inches) of flour tortillas (regular--not whole wheat or low fat, etc). on top of which was a sugar/cinnamon mixture. I can't recall if there was any fat involved (for example, a little butter). They tasted great and no one had any idea re: the provenance of the crispy layers!

The sad thing is I can't remember in where the recipe is re: more tips on making the rounds. But I think it would be pretty easy to experiment a bit. They don't cook long; that I remember.

I made them just one layer thick, but you could make the rounds smaller and make two layers.

Another idea would be to make Italian cream puffs (bigne) filled with a ricotta filliing. Possible additions to the sweetened (with powder sugar) filling would be good chips of dark chocolate, orange peel and anisette.

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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Much simpler than the other suggestions, and sinfully good, is a Cheese Flan recipe given to me by a Cuban neighbor. You like? I post.

Sounds good to me, if you don't mind posting it!

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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Another idea would be to make Italian cream puffs (bigne) filled with a ricotta filliing.  Possible additions to the sweetened (with powder sugar) filling would be good chips of dark chocolate, orange peel and anisette.

Anisette! That is probably a little too innovative for my friends. I will save that idea when I make dinner for a guy I'm dating...then he can't complain heh heh.

I still need to try the Pichet Ong choux pastry recipe. I was thinking perhaps filling those with the caramel marscapone that sugarbuzz suggested, and then perhaps drizzling them with chocolate sauce? Sprinkle of fleur de sel?

Badiane--I haven't poached pears in butter before...sounds delicious. Do you add anything to the butter (like cloves and cinnamon with it's done with red wine?)

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In Baking with Julia, Alice Medrich has a Vanilla-Hazelnut Cheescake that's very nontraditional and pretty easy -- with no crust to bake. It a pint of cottage cheese (processed till silky) with a 8 ounces of Neufchatel (I suppose you could sub cream cheese for that). You blend into the base mixture a paste you make from hazelnut brittle --- it gives a lovely marbled effect. After baking, she presses a couple of crushed hazlenut biscotti on the sides (or you can just use graham crackers). If you need the recipe let me know.

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^I have the book, and I'm familiar with that recipe--thank-you! I've never tried it though b/c the cottage cheese and the Neufachatel weirded me out...isn't that healthy stuff? That would be sacrilege to me. :wink: Do you like the dessert? I assume it has a lighter mouthfeel than regular cheesecake? Might give it a try if you like it! :smile:

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^I have the book, and I'm familiar with that recipe--thank-you! I've never tried it though b/c the cottage cheese and the Neufachatel weirded me out...isn't that healthy stuff? That would be sacrilege to me.  :wink: Do you like the dessert? I assume it has a lighter mouthfeel than regular cheesecake? Might give it a try if you like it!  :smile:

I guess it is a bit healthy-sounding, isn't it? -- and I don't usually like healthy-sounding desserts either. :laugh:

Honestly, I made it eons ago and I don't remember it well enough to describe, but I did jot down a note next to it that it was excellent.

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This is very rich and very good. I've also made it with fat-free sweetened condensed milk & light cream cheese, and it's still good!

Cuban Cheese Flan

Serves 8

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons water

14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1-3/4 cups milk

8-ounce package cream cheese, cut in pieces

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Combine sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until sugar caramelizes. Pour into a mold or soufflé dish, tilting quickly to cover the bottom.

Combine condensed milk and milk in a food processor or blender. Process to mix. Add cheese bit by bit and process until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Pour into the caramelized mold. Set mold in a baking pan containing 1” of hot water.

Bake at 400° until the water begins to simmer (about 10 minutes), then turn down the oven heat to 350° and bake 1-1/4 hours, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Let cool, then chill in the mold. To unmold, run a sharp knife around the edge, then invert onto a platter.

SuzySushi

"She sells shiso by the seashore."

My eGullet Foodblog: A Tropical Christmas in the Suburbs

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[badiane--I haven't poached pears in butter before...sounds delicious. Do you add anything to the butter (like cloves and cinnamon with it's done with red wine?)

I think that would be a great idea...it's been a while since I have done it. I like pears with cardamom, myself. I think with the caramel thing I might be tempted to throw in some scotch, myself :smile: But you could put in anything that you think would taste good with the caramel.

Don't try to win over the haters. You're not the jackass whisperer."

Scott Stratten

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Thanks suzisushi! As advertised, the recipe looks both simple and delicious.

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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In his latest book, At Home with Michael Chiarello, MC has a recipe called Freeform Cheesecake Poured over Fresh Fruit. It is on page 214 if you have time to go to a bookstore to copy it. He makes the point that it is adaptable to many fruits including mangoes and persimmons, can be flavored with the liqueur of your choice and can be gussied up by serving it in a martini glass or the like. The recipe has fairly standard ingredients plus a pound of mascarpone, but it is not baked. It is cooked like a stovetop custard. Michael will be on book tour in the Pacific Northwest in mid-November.

Judy Amster

Cookbook Specialist and Consultant

amsterjudy@gmail.com

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You could do one of those fake timamisu things made with sponge cake, cream cheese, and lots of sickeningly sweet coffee syrup... :biggrin:

It does have cream cheese in it...

But even though you're not looking for a cheesecake, I would suggest a souffle cheesecake. It has a very different texture from regular cheesecake, and is so much more refreshing.

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How about Butter Poached Pear Napoleons with Caramel and Fleur de Sel?

My vision is this....a square of puff pastry on the plate, topped with a schmear of slightly sweetened (perhaps with a bit of caramel sauce) mascarpone.  Top that with a sliced quarter of a butter poached pear, another sheet of schmear'd pastry, another quarter of a pear and then a final sheet of puff (no schmear) which has been 'painted' with caramelized sugar and topped with a few bits of fleur de sel.  You could set the whole thing on top of a pool of Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce...and sprinkle a bit of the salt around the rim of the plate for good measure.

And I have been meaning to ask...have you ever tried the Black Pearl Cake on epicurious?  Sesame, Ginger and Wasabi?  I saw it and immediately thought of you for some reason  :smile:

edited for spelling :)

I haven't made the Black Pearl cake--I remember seeing the recipe awhile back, but I don't think it would fly with my friends and family. :sad: I will have to bring it to a Vancouver Egullet event or something. :smile:

I love this dessert idea. I was flipping through Simple to Spectacular by JGV yesterday and he has a recipe for butter poached pears, so I'll post it in case anyone else is thinking of using your idea :smile:

Butter-poached pears with praline

8 tbsp. + 3 tbsp. butter

3 cups sugar

2 vanilla beans

4 pears, preferably Anjou

3/4 cup pecans or walnuts

3/4 cup blanched almonds

1 egg

1 tbsp flour

Set aside a bowl of ice water. Put 8 tbsp butter in saucepan on med. Swirl until foam subsides and butter is nut-brown. Dip bottom of saucepan in ice water to stop cooking.

Combine 2 1/2 cups sugar and 5 cups water in large saucepan, scrape out vanilla pods, add both seed and pod to water. Turn heat to med. high, add browned butter, boil.

Add pears, adjust heat so mixture bubbles but not too much. cook 8 minutes. Remove pears, discard all but 1/4 cup liquid.

Combine remaining 1/2 cup sguar and 1/2 cup each pecans and almonds into food processor, grind to fine powder. Cream with remaining 3 tbsp butter in small bowl, beat in the egg and flour. Put in fridge until thick.

Peel pears, and core. Stuff with nut mixture. Return pears to saucepan and spoon poaching liquid over. On medium heat, cook 10 minutes, basting once. Toast remaining nuts in a skillet.

Serve pears with juice, filling and toasted nuts.

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You could do one of those fake timamisu things made with sponge cake, cream cheese, and lots of sickeningly sweet coffee syrup... :biggrin:

It does have cream cheese in it...

Eww...no thanks :laugh: Actually, I used Wolfgang Puck's recipe for tiramisu a few years ago. I remember picking that recipe b/c it was the only one I could find where you were supposed to make the ladyfingers from scratch, and back then, I thought that perhaps that would taste better than those purchased Italian ones. That's a dumb reason, I know. :raz:

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  • 1 month later...

I'm about to take a very small foray into selling cheesecakes for the holidaze. I took one to a work gathering and my boss wants to buy one for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and now others want one too. I am not a professional chef, and I have some questions about logistics.

1) It's obviously very unprofessional to sell the cheesecake with the springform pan. Is there a liner you can put in the bottom, to slide the cheescake off of the pan with? Is this what is done, or am I way off base? How do I get my cheesecake off of the bottom of the springform pan?

2) Do restaurant supply stores tend to carry those white boxes so that I can put my cheesecake in one, and look semi-professional? What are these boxes called?

I've looked online at my local Restaurant supply store, but I've found nothing similar to either a liner or the box. I might just head over tomorrow and give it a peak.

Any help is much appreciated :)

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Are you making a barebottom cheesecake? If you have a base, do you plan to have a press-in base or a sponge one?

I usually use a press-in base, and have never had problems lifting the entire cake off the bottom. I've used sponge bases before as well, and I think these need to be chilled thoroughly before unmoulding.

My current recipe can be out of the tin in 8 hours--but I think a shorter period of time should be fine as well.

May

Totally More-ish: The New and Improved Foodblog

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Baking supply stores carry cardboard cake rounds (cardboard discs) in a variety of sizes, as well as cake boxes. Be sure the box and the round match in size, and the round should be slightly larger than the cake (a 10-inch round for a 9" cake).

Once the cheesecake is chilled, it's pretty dense. I invert the cake (covered in plastic wrap) onto a plate (or cake round), take off the pan bottom (and sometimes parchment), and re-invert the cake back onto the round it will stay on. Any garnish or decoration should be made after the cake is on the final round.

He who distinguishes the true savor of his food can never be a glutton; he who does not cannot be otherwise. --- Henry David Thoreau
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Use parchment paper in the base of your springform pan then trim when done. Use 10" cake rounds to slide our cake into your pastry box. You can order your cake boxes ( I use 10" X 4") from any paper supplier -- also the cake rounds.

Good baking.

The Philip Mahl Community teaching kitchen is now open. Check it out. "Philip Mahl Memorial Kitchen" on Facebook. Website coming soon.

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