Light New York Cheesecake

Week 4

This week's host was Talesha she choose Light New York Cheesecake. Recipe on page 504-506 of our book.

 

My excitement to make cheesecake was on the horizon. One, because I have never even thought to attempt it and two, I thought it was a restaurant only recipe because I've never had a homemade cheesecake before. I was also happy to have Jen do the research and shopping for me on the odd ingredient, (yogurt cheese). By the time I was ready to bake the cake all my questions were answered. Ya! 

Time to bake. . .

It took a long to finish the cheese cake, from start to finish, but in the end it was worth it. I used my bender instead of a food processor for obvious reasons. (Don't have a food processor.)

 It worked GREAT! The process was pretty simple, which surprised me because the recipe took a long time. When it came time to bake I was a little nervous. Only because I didn't have a thermometer, which the recipe called for. As you can see (picture above) it came out a little dark around the edges. This result didn't seem to change the taste. 

Now time for the sauce! I choose Raspberry Sauce on page 514 (great for beginners). I choose to replace the Raspberry's with Strawberry's. They were right about this recipe, the sauce was so simple to make. The only thing they could of done was given more guidance on how much sugar should be in the sauce for a general sweetness idea. I have a thing about testing things when cooking so my two year old daughter tested the sauce. When she said it was sweet enough, I believed her. Other then that it was great! 

The tartness of the strawberry sauce and strawberry's were the perfect balance in this sweet but delicious cheesecake. Like the Boston Cream Muffins it is very rich and sweet and can only be handled in small portions. I guess that is the way most deserts should be, eh!

I served the cheesecake to our really good friends on Friday night. As you can see they enjoyed it. I tend to use them to test my food when I bake or cook new things. I am thankful they are such good sports.

A Tip & A Question:

1. Do not leave cheesecake out of refrigerator 30 minutes prior to eating unless you want lukewarm cheesecake.
2. How do restaurants get their cheesecake to be a perfect cream color on the top? (really nice oven, maybe)