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All About Cheesecake Crust

KMPickard

By KMPickard
in Pastry & Baking

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KMPickard

KMPickard

Posted
Posted

I've abandoned my usual role as hostess and will be attending a family Easter gathering this weekend. My contribution is to be dessert and I'm planning on making a Lime Curd Cheesecake. I've made it before - the flavour is great and it reminds me of spring. (Spring needs all the help it can get here - another 5 inches of snow tonight :sad: )

My problem is this - I don't care for the usual graham cracker crust and I can't substitute nuts as one of the attendees has a severe nut allergy. I consulted with Susan Purdy's "The Perfect Cake" and she likes to dust a generously buttered spring form with cookie crumbs as a crust.

To those more experienced than I - will it work if I toast some unsweetened dessicated coconut, mix it with a bit of granulated sugar and coat the pan with that? I thought that the coconut would harmonize with the lime and if I toast it it won't end up a sticky mess. What do you think?

Thanks in advance,

Kathy

PS:Susan Purdy's book was an eGullet recommendation for which I'm most grateful.

nightscotsman

nightscotsman

Posted
Posted

Toasted coconut sounds like a good match for the lime curd, but I would add some neutral flavored cookie crumbs and a bit of butter to help hold it together. Maybe some vanilla wafers, or I think Cooks Illustrated recommended animal crackers in one of their recipes.

Wendy DeBord

Wendy DeBord

Posted
Posted

You can make a crustless cheesecake and that's about what you'll have with your coconut and sugar.

I like some sort of crust when eating a cheesecake solo as a textural contrast.

You can grind up and use almost any cookie you make or buy (using butter to bind it), I agree that the coconut and lime would be fabulous. How about buying some coconut cookies and grinding them up? I would probably finish this type of cheesecake with some whipped cream on top as a garnish and that's where I'd put my toasted coconut or macadmia nuts.......... you could also make a contrasting fruit sauce for the plate-that would really make your dessert pop.

Patrick S

Patrick S

Posted
Posted

I don't care for grahama cracker crust either. I always use vanilla wafers.

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced" - Vincent Van Gogh
 

boulak

boulak

Posted
Posted

Why not make a macaroon and bake it in the form, or trim it to fit the form,and then bake your cheesecake on top of that?

Patrick S

Patrick S

Posted
Posted

Or a dacquoise disc?

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced" - Vincent Van Gogh
 

duckduck

duckduck

Posted
Posted

My recent favorite has been Alice Medrich's shortbread crust. I've also done nut crusts in the past. I do a hazelnut crust for chocolate cheesecake and I do a macadamia crust for a coffee pie I do that is just good coffee, sugar, gelatin soft set and mixed in with whipped cream and turned out into a crust of macadamias and a little sugar thrown in the food processor and patted into a pie pan.

Pamela Wilkinson

www.portlandfood.org

Life is a rush into the unknown. You can duck down and hope nothing hits you, or you can stand tall, show it your teeth and say "Dish it up, Baby, and don't skimp on the jalapeños."

viaChgo

viaChgo

Posted
Posted
My recent favorite has been Alice Medrich's shortbread crust. I've also done nut crusts in the past. I do a hazelnut crust for chocolate cheesecake and I do a macadamia crust for a coffee pie I do that is just good coffee, sugar, gelatin soft set and mixed in with whipped cream and turned out into a crust of macadamias and a little sugar thrown in the food processor and patted into a pie pan.

I second the shortbread crust as well. Just crush up some Walkers cookies. I think that would match well with the lime curd.

JFLinLA

JFLinLA

Posted
Posted

Okay, so what crust would you use with a caramel cheesecake? I made this for the first time last week and it was delicious but I didn't like the pecan nut crust.

So long and thanks for all the fish.
KMPickard

KMPickard

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Thanks so much for all the suggestions. Someone suggested to me today that a nut-sensitive person may be allergic to coconut as well. Whether this is accurate or not I'd rather not take any chances.....so gingersnaps it is.

I'll report back post-party.

Kathy

*Deborah*

*Deborah*

Posted
Posted
Okay, so what crust would you use with a caramel cheesecake?  I made this for the first time last week and it was delicious but I didn't like the pecan nut crust.

I happen to really like a regular graham cracker crust, and I think it would be tasty with a caramel cheesecake...a chocolate cookie crust might work for you?

There's an English toffee cheesecake (v v sweet) that I make once a year, it has a graham cracker and chopped-up Skor bar crust, that might be good, too, with some chocolate but not too much, and with the toffee echoing the caramel flavour.

Agenda-free since 1966.

Foodblog: Power, Convection and Lies

JFLinLA

JFLinLA

Posted
Posted (edited)
Okay, so what crust would you use with a caramel cheesecake?  I made this for the first time last week and it was delicious but I didn't like the pecan nut crust.

I happen to really like a regular graham cracker crust, and I think it would be tasty with a caramel cheesecake...a chocolate cookie crust might work for you?

There's an English toffee cheesecake (v v sweet) that I make once a year, it has a graham cracker and chopped-up Skor bar crust, that might be good, too, with some chocolate but not too much, and with the toffee echoing the caramel flavour.

Thanks Deborah -- I was planning to try a graham cracker crust but use brown sugar instead of white. Maybe I'll brown the butter too. Anyway, will report back with the results once the experiment is complete.

PS -- Do you ever by the Skor chips plain. The cookie recipe on the back of the bag is one of the favorites in our family.

Edited by JFLinLA (log)
So long and thanks for all the fish.
jgarner53

jgarner53

Posted
Posted (edited)

I use crumbled short dough cookies for my cheesecake crusts, though I've also used gingersnaps when I've done lemon. I agree that the gingersnaps would be great with the lime as well.

I bake my own cookies, but then again, I'm like that. When I bake sugar cookies (same recipe), I save out the ones that break, aren't perfect and beautiful, freeze them, and those become cheesecake crust. Ergo, leftover Valentine's cookies became crust (with some pistachios) for a lemon/ginger cheesecake for the Oscars.

Edited by jgarner53 (log)

"I just hate health food"--Julia Child

Jennifer Garner

buttercream pastries

*Deborah*

*Deborah*

Posted
Posted

PS -- Do you ever by the Skor chips plain.  The cookie recipe on the back of the bag is one of the favorites in our family.

No! not a cookie baker, as then I'd have to eat them :wink: are they crunchy like the chocolate covered bits or bites? or are they more soft like a chocolate chip? They sound like something I could gain a dress size eating though !

Agenda-free since 1966.

Foodblog: Power, Convection and Lies

JFLinLA

JFLinLA

Posted
Posted

PS -- Do you ever by the Skor chips plain.  The cookie recipe on the back of the bag is one of the favorites in our family.

No! not a cookie baker, as then I'd have to eat them :wink: are they crunchy like the chocolate covered bits or bites? or are they more soft like a chocolate chip? They sound like something I could gain a dress size eating though !

Crunchy. Like the inside of the Skor bar, without the chocolate. I also have a yummy recipe for bars where these are sprinkled on top.

So long and thanks for all the fish.
lfujii

lfujii

Posted
Posted

I once saw a recipe for Key lime pie with a chocolate crust wich happened to have coconut in it.............looked great, bringing to mind a brebaked chocolate short crust with coconut. I also loved the idea of gingersnaps.

  • 2 months later...
taylor214

taylor214

Posted
Posted

I want to use an Oreo crust instead of a graham cracker crust for a cheesecake I'm making. My question that I should know is whether or not to only use the chocolate portion of the oreos when i crush them. Logically, that sounds right, but I just wanted to confirm that.

Also, what ratio of crumbs to butter should I use.

Thanks!

Kathyf

Kathyf

Posted
Posted

For a 10" crust

2 cups crushed oreos - just the cookie - no middles

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar

You can buy boxes of crushed oreo crumbs in most groceries.

Cut the above in half for an 8" crust.

lcdm

lcdm

Posted
Posted

Last time I made an Oreo crust I used the whole cookie. No butter or sugar. In using the whole cookies the middle part helped to keep the crust together.

chefpeon

chefpeon

Posted
Posted (edited)

Think of it this way......

You can do one of three things.......

You can leave the Oreos as they are, and crush them, or preferably, run them through a food processor, and you won't have to add any butter to them, because the filling in them is pure

sugar and shortenin'.......and that will be more than enough to coat the crumbs so you can

press them into your cheesecake pan. If you added butter to that, it would be WAY too greasy....

overkill!

Or......

you can take the Oreos apart and scrape off the filling and just crush the cookie part and add butter to the crumbs. You only need to add butter to the point where you take some crumbs in your hand, make a fist, and the crumbs should stick together. It should never feel overly greasy or oily. I personally feel that this method makes a better tasting crust......I'm not a real big fan of that shortening filling.

Or......

you can do it the REALLY easy way, and make a dark chocolate cookie crust by using those "Famous Brand" Chocolate Wafers. Then you don't have to mess with taking Oreos apart. Basically a crust made with Famous Wafers and Oreo wafers is virtually the same. Except for the shortening of course. :smile:

Edited by chefpeon (log)

Annie's Cake-o-Rama

Confessions of a Burned Out Pastry Chef

msfurious1

msfurious1

Posted
Posted (edited)

I was going to say the same thing. Just use the whole cookie. No butter or sugar added is needed. I've made this Kraft recipe Oreo cheesecake for a couple of my DS's birthdays at his request.

The crust is baked before the cheese filling is added and that seems to hold it together.

For the birthday cheesecake, I added a thin layer of ganache over the top and chilled the cheesecake so that I could write "Happy Birthday" on top. It's super rich and decadent and should only be made for a special ocassion. :blink:

Edited by msfurious1 (log)
claire797

claire797

Posted
Posted

One of my Cook's Illustrated books has an Oreo Crust recipe and they heartily recommend leaving the white part in. I always leave it in too. I can't remember the ratio, but Kraft has several Oreo crusted cheesecakes on their site, so you might check that....but I'd definitely leave in the white.

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