Cheesecake

There are different kinds of cheesecake: 

• New York style (east coast style), this ever popular American staple desert usually is heavy in cream and eggs. 
• West Coast, usually sour cream is folded in to the batter. Sometimes it also is set on top as a second layer, so that the cake is partially baked and then is allowed to finish baking with the contrasting sour cream layer.
• French cheesecake, is made with the usual creaming method by has a meringue base that is folded in to make it lighter yet still creamy.
• Italian cheesecake, is made with ricotta cheese instead of cream cheese.

There are several variations that can be done with cheesecake, here are some suggestions for how you can make substitute things for a less traditional cheesecake:

• Crust: Nougatine, brittle
• More savory cheese options: blue cheese, goat cheese
• Sweet cheese options and substitutes: tofu (low fat, vegan option), cottage cheese, mascarpone, neuf châtel (fresher, less processed cream cheese), fomage blanc (fresh cheese, un-aged, low fat option), ricotta, bakers cheese, quart (essentially bakers cheese)
• No bake: gelatin can set the cheese, making it more of a mousse type dessert

This formula is similar to the brownie formula where it yields a richer product then you are usually accustomed to. Because of that it is a perfect recipe for petits fours demi-sec or petits fours frais.




Formula: yields a quarter pan

Cream cheese, 455 g

Eggs, 3 each

Egg yolks, 1.5 each

Bread Flour, 20 g

Sugar, 188 g

Vanilla, 23 g

Heavy cream, 23 ml (1.5 T)

Optional*

Sour cream, 225 ml

* Optional Variations:

Lime: 63 g lime juice, 8 g grated lime

Amaretto: 88 g almond paste, 113 ml ameretto
Marbled: 88 g melted dark chocolate mixed into 1/3 of the plain batter. If you do not mix it into enough of the batter it will not marble correctly, the chocolate will harden on you.
Eggnog: 20 g rum, 11 g brandy, 1.5 g nutmeg
Hazelnut: 20 g praline paste, 43 g frangelico



MOP: Creaming method

• Cream room temperature cream cheese with a paddle attachment to soften it to a creamy consistency.
• Add the butter and sugar in and cream until smooth. Scrape down bowl as needed so sugar and butter lumps do not hide in the bottom of the bowl and get picked up later.
• Add in eggs in stages. Mix until the batter forms a creamy consistency without any lumps. You might need to scrape down the bowl as it mixes.
• When the batter is smooth add in vanilla, heavy cream, sour cream, and flavour variation if you are doing a full inclusion. Blend in.
• If you are doing a partial inclusion, pour 2/3 of the batter into a prepped mold or sheet pan with a blind baked, dry and cooled crust.
• Mix the remaining 1/3 of the batter with the inclusion. Pipe this in to create a marbled or feathered texture on the surface. You can also easily do leafs, or dots, or any other kind of elegant design that you determine appropriate.
• Bake below 350°F without a water bath. We baked it at 250°F in a deck oven for approximately 20-25 minutes. Until the center is firm and the cheesecake jiggles slightly.
• Cool before refrigerating.

Finishing:

Wait until the cheesecake is firm before cutting. You can get really clean cuts with hot water and a frozen cheesecake, its just a little harder to cut through a crust with a flimsy cutter when its frozen.

• Use an appropriate sized cutter for your application. For a demi-sec dessert, a 2" circle cutter works really well, or 1 1/2" squares also give a really elegant looking shape for a two bite dessert.
• Dip the cutter in hot water to warm, clean off with a clean town and cut out the cheesecake cleanly.
• You can garnish however you want, here are a few suggestions. Dust the sides with small chocolate shavings (using a cheese grater gives you a really nice small shaving size, make sure to use gloves when applying the chocolate so your hands do not melt the chocolate). Fresh fruit that is anchored by a whipped cream or chocolate ganache rosette is a pretty touch, make sure to glaze fresh fruit. A small tuile cookie is also a pleasant option, as is chocolate cigarettes.