Yogurt cheesecake

[curgoth]

The recipe for my yogurt cheesecake


Here's the original recipe I got from nxk3;

cheesecake:
32oz yogurt (or 16oz cream cheese + 1 tsp lime juice)
1 large pinch saffron
4 drops lime oil
OR
1/2 tsp fresh lime zest, finely chopped
sugar to taste (about 3/4 cup)
1 or 2 eggs
graham cracker pie crust

topping:
2-4 Tbsp pine nuts
1-2 Tbsp sugar
(maybe 1 tsp melted butter)

Drain a 32oz container of yogurt till just about 16oz whey have
drained out. This takes a couple of hours.

Soak the saffron in 1 Tbsp boiling water for a few hours.

Mix the yogurt cheese well with the saffron liquid and threads. Mix
in the sugar, lime oil or lime zest. Taste and reseason (sugar and
lime levels) as needed. After tasting, mix in one egg.

Pour into a graham cracker pie crust (yeah, I'm lazy; mine was store
bought). It should come to about 1/4" below the top of the crust
since it will fluff up some as it cooks.

Sprinkle liberally with pine nuts, then with sugar, bake to a for 45
minutes at 350. Let it cool on a wire rack, then chill for at least 2
hours.

My version uses splenda instead of sugar - if I can find a way to make the graham crust without butter and sugar, the whole thing would actually be quite healthy. While I still sprinkle a little sweetener on top, it doesn't develop into a glaze like sugar would, since splenda doesn't melt. I find 1 egg is enough.

I've played around with flavouring as well - in addition to saffron/lime, I've done a "middle-eastern" style cheesecake, where the flavouring agents are saffron, a lot of cardamom, and a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg, and a capfull or two of rosewater, and pistachios instead of pine nuts. Pecans also work fine instead of pine nuts for the saffron-lime cake.

For a more "eastern" (Indian/Middle-Eastern) style, only use 3/4 cup of sugar//splenda. For a more Western style of dessert, use a full cup - reviews have been pretty consistent about my Indian/Pakistani coworkers preferring the lower sweetener content, while I like it a bit sweeter. Adjust to your level of sweet tooth.

The only part of this recipe that requires forethought is the making of the yogurt cheese - my method is: take a big bowl, and a strainer that fits over it well. Line the strainer with coffee filters, and dump in the yogurt. Put plastic wrap over the yogurt, and then take an empty pie plate, put it on top, and place a can of beans or whatever on top to provide weight. Put the whole deal in the fridge over night, checking periodically to make sure the bowl doesn't overfill with whey. It will reduce by half, so if you drain two containers of yogurt, you'll have enough yogurt cheese to fill one container, and make two cheesecakes with a little bit left over. It works just fine with fat-free yogurt

Comments

[the-doughboy.livejournal.com]

You forgot the 2 cups of Rum