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which_chickI do not particularly like cheesecake. It is not A Thing for me in the way that it is A Thing for some other people. However, I have a dear friend who is a particular fan of cheesecake, so... once a year there is a cheesecake from me to my dear friend, for her birthday. She claims it is a wonderful cheesecake. It's... sufficient. It is not especially lacking, but I don't LOVE cheesecake and therefore can't speak as to how wonderful it is and how much of that assessment is my dear friend's happiness at not having to make her own. I generally eat a small piece every year for quality control purposes. It's not bad with a cup of black coffee.
Special considerations...
You need the better part of an afternoon or evening, a mixer, a blender, and a 9" springform pan.
Preheat oven to 325
graham cracker crumbs sufficient to line the bottom of the springform pan. My recipe says 1/2 cup but I use like a packet and a half (the box comes with three packets inside), mixed with some melted butter to help it hold together better. I don't measure this. If a graham cracker crust is beyond you, stop here and buy a freaking cheesecake.
4 large eggs
1 lb creamy cottage cheese
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, Philadelphia brand. Yes, it matters.
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoon lemon or (Lala does not like lemon) lime juice
1 teasp. grated lemon or lime rind. Grated lime rind is visibly green if that matters to you.
2 teasp. vanilla
3 T cornstarch
3 T flour
1 pt. sour cream (2 level cups. You'll need more than one container because 14 oz is not a pint.)
1 stick (1/2 cup) real butter, melted and cooled slightly but still liquid
Grease 9" springform pan and press graham cracker crust into bottom.
Put 4 eggs and cottage cheese in blender, blend well until smooth. Set aside.
Beat cream cheese, sugar, citrus juice, grated rind, and vanilla until fluffy.
Add cottage cheese / egg mixture to cream cheese / sugar mixture. Mix well.
Add cornstarch and flour to batter. Mix well. You're done with the mixer, lick the beaters and put it away.
Using a hand whisk, incorporate the sour cream and melted butter until just combined and not stripey. Do not overmix.
Pour into pan, bake 70 minutes. Center should still be VERY SLIGHTLY jiggly when you turn the heat off the oven. Turn off oven, and I generally open the door to drop the heat a bit (like ten seconds) and then close it again.
Allow cake to stand in oven for two hours, cooling gently.
After two hours remove cake from oven, put in fridge. When fully chilled, which takes about two more hours, you can glaze with home-made sour cherry topping (Sour cherries, some sugar, some cornstarch, some almond extract. Do what seems right.) or perhaps some other, less-preferred fruit topping. Only serial killers use blueberries.
This cake has a tendency to crack on top. The internet says it's overcooked. It tastes fine. Every time, it tastes fine. But it cracks. Sour cherries hide a multitude of sins, is what I'm saying' here. I have never had this cake not crack and I can't be arsed to make it enough times to figure out how to have it NOT crack. Lala eats it just fine and is damn glad to have it, cracked or no. Maybe I'll do more research and try again this time next year.
The recipe comes from my mother's college friend. (Sometimes recipes have provenance. Sometimes not, but I know where this one came from.)
Special considerations...
You need the better part of an afternoon or evening, a mixer, a blender, and a 9" springform pan.
Preheat oven to 325
graham cracker crumbs sufficient to line the bottom of the springform pan. My recipe says 1/2 cup but I use like a packet and a half (the box comes with three packets inside), mixed with some melted butter to help it hold together better. I don't measure this. If a graham cracker crust is beyond you, stop here and buy a freaking cheesecake.
4 large eggs
1 lb creamy cottage cheese
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, Philadelphia brand. Yes, it matters.
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoon lemon or (Lala does not like lemon) lime juice
1 teasp. grated lemon or lime rind. Grated lime rind is visibly green if that matters to you.
2 teasp. vanilla
3 T cornstarch
3 T flour
1 pt. sour cream (2 level cups. You'll need more than one container because 14 oz is not a pint.)
1 stick (1/2 cup) real butter, melted and cooled slightly but still liquid
Grease 9" springform pan and press graham cracker crust into bottom.
Put 4 eggs and cottage cheese in blender, blend well until smooth. Set aside.
Beat cream cheese, sugar, citrus juice, grated rind, and vanilla until fluffy.
Add cottage cheese / egg mixture to cream cheese / sugar mixture. Mix well.
Add cornstarch and flour to batter. Mix well. You're done with the mixer, lick the beaters and put it away.
Using a hand whisk, incorporate the sour cream and melted butter until just combined and not stripey. Do not overmix.
Pour into pan, bake 70 minutes. Center should still be VERY SLIGHTLY jiggly when you turn the heat off the oven. Turn off oven, and I generally open the door to drop the heat a bit (like ten seconds) and then close it again.
Allow cake to stand in oven for two hours, cooling gently.
After two hours remove cake from oven, put in fridge. When fully chilled, which takes about two more hours, you can glaze with home-made sour cherry topping (Sour cherries, some sugar, some cornstarch, some almond extract. Do what seems right.) or perhaps some other, less-preferred fruit topping. Only serial killers use blueberries.
This cake has a tendency to crack on top. The internet says it's overcooked. It tastes fine. Every time, it tastes fine. But it cracks. Sour cherries hide a multitude of sins, is what I'm saying' here. I have never had this cake not crack and I can't be arsed to make it enough times to figure out how to have it NOT crack. Lala eats it just fine and is damn glad to have it, cracked or no. Maybe I'll do more research and try again this time next year.
The recipe comes from my mother's college friend. (Sometimes recipes have provenance. Sometimes not, but I know where this one came from.)
