Chocolate with vanilla fudge:

use the base recipe with 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder. I use Scharffen Berger because it has a snooty name and therefore it must be good. 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and an extra 1/3 cup of heavy cream because the cocoa powder dries out the batter.

The crust is 1 cup of crushed chocolate Teddy Grahams (almost two cups before they're crushed). I switched to three tablespoons of brown sugar and three tablespoons of unsalted butter.

I set the timer for 30 minutes and took my time getting everything ready for the fudge. When the timer buzzed, I started the fudge. It took about twenty five minutes to heat it.

fudge: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_163/1739716_How_to_make_fudge___nvm___I_figured_it_out__This_thread_is_now_called_How_To_Make_Crack.html&page=1#i53128471

I let the cake cool in the oven for 60 minutes, then I put it in the refrigerator for half an hour so it wouldn't break when I spread the fudge on the top. I stirred the fudge when it was around 130 F. You're supposed to wait until it's 110. I'm a rebel.

It would look better if I had a steel, offset spatula to spread it with. The fudge is still soft and it can be formed, but not so well if you use a silicone spatula.

Whatever - it tastes good.

We have also learned never to use this product to make a cheesecake.



In order to explain the reason not to use it, I have to explain a couple of things about cheesecake.

First are the brown spots you can see on top of several of the cheesecakes I made for this thread. They affect the flavor not at all, but they look bad. The consensus is that the brown spots are caused by air bubbles in the batter. If you want to avoid the brown spots, you need a stand up mixer with a paddle on low speed only. I have a handheld blender and I haven't got two hundred bucks for a Hobart and I don't have a place to put it even if I could afford it. You can see the difference as the thread goes. I used to crank the blender up.

When I learned to use the blender at the lowest speed and be patient, I reduced the number of spots.

You can also deal with the spots by covering them with blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, sprinkles, fudge, or whatever. This is known as cheating and I advocate it because people will think you went to great effort to please them, as opposed to concealing your screw-up.

While you're trying to blend at low speed, you also have to make sure the batter is homogenous. It takes me at least fifteen minutes to make a cheesecake batter. I add one egg, one block of cream cheese, and one fourth of the sugar and blend it. You have to use a soft spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure you mix the batter thoroughly. If it's not mixed thoroughly, you'll see little blobs of cream cheese in the batter.

I have a clear bowl and the blobs are easily visible when I used the spatula to scrape the bowl.

They were even more visible when I made a chocolate cheesecake.



Those white spots are one or two millimeters across and they're cream cheese that didn't blend. (I used too much butter in the crust - that's what the brown stuff is at the bottom.) The cheesecake with the blobs was good, but it didn't taste 'right' and the appearance really put me off.

It took me an hour to blend it tonight and that was at two speeds higher than I wanted to use. The fudge will hide the dark spots.

The best results I got were with Philadelphia cream cheese. It sounds like an endorsement, but it's not. I get nothing from them*.

Use Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese. It worked and the other stuff sucked.

*Although I am not associated with Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese, it should be obvious from my screen name that I am a shameless whore and will happily sell my soul as a product endorsement for a few dollars. If you are affiliated with Kraft, Inc., please shoot me an IM so we can work out exactly how much my product placements will cost you and whether you want them to appear with SIG Sauer products or some other brand. Hint - Philadelphia Cream Cheese would look awesome with a LaRue Tactical OBR 7.62, and it will only cost you an additional $3400 to provide me with one of those rifles. Since you're in Illinois and you can't have it, I'll hold onto it for you after I take the pictures.

Click To View Spoiler

Thanks to douglasmorris99 for advice on how to bake with bananas.

This is the base recipe with two bananas, 1/4 cup banana liqueur, and three tablespoons of flour to work against the extra moisture that Doug warned me about.

I thought I had more cornstarch. The topping was a little more than a pint of strawberries, 1 cup of water, 3/4 cup of sugar, 4 tablespoons of lemon juice, 4 tablespoons cornstarch. I didn't have enough corn starch. I had to scoop the strawberries with a slotted spoon and it still poured juice all over the place.

I also should have cut them much smaller and put some red dye in the mix, only because they don't 'look right.' Oh well. For those wondering, it tastes like a Twinkie with strawberries on it.



I'm going to try to make the next one actually be a Twinkie. I think if I freeze a layer of Cool Whip about 3/8" thick and then trim it so it's 1.5" smaller than the pan, I can partly fill the pan, put the Cool Whip in it, then pour the rest of the batter on top and bake it. You can make cookies with the stuff, so it probably won't catch on fire. If it does, it will be the most interesting picture in this thread.

looks Very good...


try making a strawberry syrup/cornstarch/clear gel fruit free and allowing it to cool to the touch, then adding your cold sugared/lemon juiced strawberries, (Said strawberries should be sugared/juiced VERY quickly and added to the Gel don't let them sit more than a few minutes.) THEN place atop the cheese cake,  when making your cornstarch thickening agent, make it with cold water first and add tha mixture to the BOILING simple syrup you'll get
clearer Gel..

Chef

All the gelatin recipes I found had photos of cheesecake with Jello on top. I bought Ball Instant Pectin. I never used the stuff, so went to their website and did exactly what they said.

It turns out that pectin needs sugar to work with fruit to make jam. According to other sources, if you change the amount of sugar, you won't get what you wanted. It needs sugar to draw some of the water and form the structure. That's what these guys say: https://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/icooks/article_6-03.html

I find it especially interesting that the recipe for the instant pectin says you can substitute Splenda for the sugar, so at some point I'll try to find out if I can change the amount. It's very tasty, but it's too sweet. One good thing about it is there's no heat. Boiling made a real mess of the blackberry topping I made, so I want to try it again with this stuff. They also sell a 'no sugar' pectin, but that requires a high boil. It won't work with the blackberries and it will turn the strawberries pale.

http://www.freshpreserving.com/tools/pectin-calculator#

I cheated and put ten drops of red food dye in the topping.

Also, it is not 'instant.' It was soupy when I was done making it. I thought that was odd since I did what the manufacturer said to do, so I put it in a jar and left in in the refrigerator while the cheesecake cooled and set. That was last night. By this afternoon, it was nice and thick, as you can see.



So far, I've not been pleased with the results of the banana cheesecakes. They were mushy and the flavor was too strong, so I'll have to play with that a bit. I found banana cream flavoring at a cake store. Even with one banana, the consistency was off. I also found that Cool Whip won't work.

The frozen Cool Whip disc floated and mixed into the batter. I ate one slice of it and tossed it in the trash. I think if I use a cream cheese frosting and freeze that, it might work. At this point, I'd like to thank Martha Stewart for my first attempt at cream cheese cake frosting because it tastes like shit. How can you screw up frosting? I used the proportions on her website and I got a disgusting blob that would violate the Hague Accord if it was used in a pie fight.

I think I've got the recipe for the banana cheesecake and I should have a better way to make the strawberry topping this week, so the next one will be a repeat of the banana-strawberry. Then I have to figure out how to copy the filling in a Twinkie.

ETA - the cheesecake is the base recipe from page 2: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_163/1677558_chocolate_with_vanilla_fudge_pg__3___see_page_2_for_slight_adjustment_to_recipe.html&page=2#i52788619

The lemon flavor is a bit strong and you might want to use 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest. The flavor goes well with the strawberries if you like a stronger flavor. I was going to reduce the amount of lemon and I forgot. It tastes fine, but I figure Kaylee will do me more enthusiastically if the strawberry flavor is dominant.

I made another batch of strawberry topping with the Ball Instant Pectin. Their website says you have to use 2/3 cup of sugar, but that was too sweet. Other recipes said you can't change the amount of sugar. Ball Instant Pectin says you can also use Splenda, which is not sugar, and therefore you should be able to change the amount of sugar.

Science is needed.

I made the topping yesterday. I used 1 pint of strawberries, 2 tablespoons of pectin, and 1/3 cup granulated sugar. This is 1/2 of the sugar they recommend. It worked. I mushed about 1 1/4 cups of the strawberries and left the rest in quarters so there would be fruit pieces instead of jam on the cheesecake. I left it in the refrigerator and tasted it this afternoon. It tastes like strawberries, not strawberries and sugar. I'll try it with powdered sugar next because all the granules didn't dissolve, but it's good.

I also used about 2/3 teaspoon of lemon zest. The base recipe uses 1 teaspoon of it and that's a bit overpowering if you want to appreciate the other flavors.

It has to set up overnight, so I won't taste it until tomorrow night. I think it will be pretty f'ing good.



Yes, that is an empty bottle of Jack Daniel's on the floor. Don't worry, I have another one.

The instant pectin is a Godsend for the toppings. I tried it with corn starch and got blackberry jello on top of a cheesecake. Tasty, but not what I wanted.

Mushed blackberries are much more tart than strawberries, so I used the full 2/3 cup of sugar that Ball recommended.

Mush 2/3 of 2 pints of blackberries
2/3 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons Ball Instant Pectin

Mix it and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator to get the topping.

This one is also reduced by 1/4 all around. The things cost me $17.45 to make, without topping. This one cost $13.40. Bake it at 325 F for 45 minutes, until it stops jiggling when you shake the oven rack. It took 53 minutes in my oven. The full size ones take 65 minutes. I should probably clean the temperature sensor.

Now if they just pass the revised cottage kitchen law, I can start selling these things.



The topping is 2/3 cup powdered sugar, pint of blueberries, and 2 tablespoons of Ball Instant Pectin. I also put a drop of blue food coloring in it. If you make this, try using 1 tablespoon and 1.5 teaspoons of pectin. It's a little thick. I mixed it to taste with the sugar. It tasted better with the amount of sugar they specified. YMMV.

Now I need to come up with a tool to form the crust. That was a pain in the ass and took way too long. I have an idea, but first I have to find the material I need to form it.

From what I recall, I thought the law still forbade foods that required refrigeration?



 

Various sources say it will allow cheesecake sales. You have to have a separate refrigerator for the commercial stuff. Not a big deal. I don't get the controversy with this. They think that if you're smart enough to make a cheesecake, you're still too stupid to put it in the fridge.

I guess regulation is why Blue Bell only poisoned a few people.

This stinking New Deal/Greatest Generation/Dopey Hippy fantasy that government will make everything perfect needs to come to an end.

Truth.



That's good to hear about the new law; I always thought that part of it was silly.



 

It died in committee. I don't know if Abbot plans a called session. If he does, I don't know if the bill will be called. They tried to lean on Myra Crownover (Denton) to get it out of committee. She says she is a 'champion of free enterprise' and believes in limited government.

Well, limit the fucking government, then, Myra.

I suspect it's dead for the next two years, but you never know.

chocolate cheescake, chocolate crust, chocolate fudge, chocolate sprinkles



Make the fudge the night before. It has to cool and set.

chocolate fudge:
3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt

Melt 6 ounces of semi sweet chocolate chips on low heat. By the time they melted, the fudge mix was above the temperature to melt chocolate. Use a spatula to put them in the fudge mix. I tried putting the chips in the batter. They sat on the bottom of the pan and burned. Don't do that. Heat to 240F and test for soft ball stage. At soft ball stage (240F) remove from heat and pout in a bowl. You shopuld be able to clean the Let it cool to 110F. It will be glossy and very dark brown. I used the dough blades on a handheld mixer to blend the fudge. It takes around ten minutes. It will get dull, like fudge, and change color when it's ready.

Put a piece of parchment paper on the the cheesecake pan and put the circular form on the pan. Clamp it and spread the fudge. Put it in the refrigerator overnight to set.

See my crack thread for more details. https://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_163/1739716_How_to_make_fudge___nvm___I_figured_it_out__This_thread_is_now_called_How_To_Make_Chocolate_Crack.html

crust:
2 cups crushed chocolate Teddy Grahams (they're easy to crush)
3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons granulated sugar

bake 350F for ten minutes

The cheesecake is
3 8 oz Philadelphia cream cheese
3 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons cocoa (Nestle in this case)

Bake 325F in a water bath for 53 minutes, give or take. It should be 45 minutes, but it takes 53 in my oven. The top of the cheesecake should just barely jiggle when it's done.

Shut off the heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon or the blender attachment from a handheld mixer and let it cool for one hour.

I mixed even parts water and corn syrup to glue the fudge onto the cheesecake, and then to glue the sprinkles onto the fudge. Release the circular form and use it to slide the cheesecake off the pan onto your serving platter. This way the butter is still warm and it will slide. The circular cheesecake form keeps it from getting all fucked up.

You naughty naughty man..

Thank you for posting these... My son LOVES cheesecake more than anything.

I make but cannot partake.



Thanks for the recipes!!!

This one is modified since the cocoa butter separates from the fudge and makes a mess between the fudge layer and the cheesecake. It's also too thick to cut without making a mess.

The topping is 1/4 cup of uncooked crust mix, chocolate sprinkles, and chunks of chocolate fudge.

The crust is
2 cups crushed Teddy Graham crackers (they're easy to crush)
5 tablespoons gran. sugar
4 tablespoon butter

I should have frozen the fudge and chopped it into smaller chunks, but I've been having a lot of problems with it and I said, "Fuck it."

Super strawberry.

Silver Cloud Estates extracts are very strong, so instead of the 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest I normally use, I used 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon of strawberry extract. I could have used a little more strawberry, maybe 3/4 teaspoon of it. I had to test the recipe, so that will be next time.

You don't have to cook fruit to make the topping with Ball Instant Pectin. I think I said this before - the topping is 1 lb of strawberries hulled and quartered, less the ones that I ate. 1/3 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons pectin. Mush 1/3 of the fruit, mix thoroughly, leave it out for two hours while the cake cooks and cools. This allows the topping to thicken.

Put some red sprinkles on top because I had red sprinkles and I felt like it.

You get one of these:



ETA: Silver Cloud Estates website: https://www.silvercloudestates.com/pages/shopping_cart.aspx

I found a commercial kitchen I can rent. I can sell them to restaurants for $28.00, make 30% food cost and $20.00 each. The kitchen cost is $100.00 for four hours. I could easily make 16 in that time and they have convection ovens that would make 32 of them if I wanted that many.

I could sell them for $35.00 retail at the Dallas Farmer's Market. The booth is $60.00 a day. Sixteen of those at that price would be a good day.

Next up is a study of the enemy.

The enemy is Cheesecake Factory and they get $44.00 for a 10" plain cheesecake. Theirs weighs 38 ounces. Mine are 9", but they weigh 48 ounces. Cheesecake Factory stores do not make cheesecakes. They make them in a factory and ship them frozen to the stores.

Want to know the difference between a regular cheesecake and a chocolate one? Regular gets 1.5 teaspoons of vanilla and half a lemon. Chocolate gets 3 tablespoons of chocolate powder. They get $54.00 for a chocolate cheesecake and half of theirs is chocolate cake, not cheesecake. I can charge an extra $10.00 for fifty cents' worth of chocolate.

I'm working out how to do the kickstarter for this. I think $18,000 will set it up.

Its brilliant.

You also need to market that as fresh not frozen and that fact that you don't use corn syrup or corn starch is huge since a lot of people are working with special diets now.





 

The big aspects of it will be fresh, pure ingredients, made in the city. I checked Restaurant Depot today. They have a plain cheesecake for $17.00. I didn't check the weight. They have a few for 28.00 that are heavy - six pounds - and cut to 14 slices. 6.85 ounces per slice. They didn't have a lot of them, so it might take a while to see who sells them for how much. But they're still frozen and factory made. I didn't bother to look at the ingredients. I should have done that.

RD also has clear, triangular slice containers, $68.55 for 250. $0.272 per is a little steep, but I could sell 8 slices for $2.25 more than the packaging for a whole cake. $5.00 per slice is a little more than I'd get for a whole one and hopefully they would sell fast. The slices would also get people to try it and hopefully come back when they want a whole one for a special occasion or something.

The vendor relations guy at the Dallas Farmers Market said they have no cheesecake sellers now. He said they had in the past, but they went on to open brick and mortar stores. The few that I found in Dallas charge $40 or $50 each. Another local sells cupcake sized cheesecakes at Central Market (sort of a local Whole Foods operation) for $5.00, but they're frozen and therefore icky.

Some nice looking stuff here. My recipe is a bit more complicated, but it's extremely rich. I never put anything else on it as it has such great flavor on it's own.

Sorry, I don't have a pic available.

½ pound small curd cottage cheese
½ pound ricotta cheese
2, 8 oz. packages cream cheese
1 ½ cups sugar
4 eggs
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup cooled melted butter
1 pint sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla (or 1t vanilla and 1t almond or lemon extract)
graham cracker crumbs

Have all ingredients at room temperature. Butter a spring form pan and dust with cracker crumbs.
Blend ricotta, cottage, and cream cheeses until very smooth. With mixer on high, blend sugar and eggs into mixture until well blended. Mix in cornstarch, lemon juice, and vanilla; beat again.

Add cooled melted butter and sour cream and mix again. Pour into pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for one hour and ten minutes or until firm on edges. Turn off oven, let set in oven for two hours with door closed. Chill for several hours before removing from pan.

Cheesecake may be topped with fruit if desired, but with this rich cake it's really not needed!

Tip: you may use all ricotta cheese if you don't have any cottage cheese.


To prepare an oven waterbath: used for baking cheesecakes, as well as other custard-based desserts, soufflés, pate or terrine.
1.Set the oven shelf to the middle rung. Preheat the oven. Boil water for the waterbath or make sure you have plenty of hot tap water on hand.
2.You will need two pans: one that holds the recipe and the other, a larger one. The larger one should be about 2- to 3-inches wider on all sides than the recipe's pan and at least as high as the sides of the inner mold or pan; the outer pan will be filled with water that reaches about 1/2 way up the sides of the filled pan. When I bake a 9-inch cheesecake, I place it in a 12-inch round cake pan with 2- to 3-inch sides. If you don't have an outer pan big enough to hold the inner pan, use a disposable foil roasting pan. Set molds or pan in the larger pan as they are filled, leaving about 1 inch around each mold so hot water can circulate. The water should not boil around the baking pan. If it does during baking, remove some hot water with a ladle and replace with a few ice cubes.
3.If using a springform pan to bake the cheesecake in it may leak if placed in a waterbath. So, make a criss-cross of three or four pieces of foil, preferably heavy-duty, with the pan centered in the middle before filling. Bring the foil up around all of the sides to seal it and then fill the pan. Test your pan for water tightness first!
4.Pull out the middle shelf of the oven slightly, and place the larger pan on it.
5.Place the cheesecake pan into the larger pan and make sure its flat. Now the cheesecake goes in the middle of that but push it over to one side just for now.
6.Carefully pour the hottest tap water or boiling water from a kettle into the outer pan. Fill the outer pan about 1/2 way up the sides of filled pan. Some recipes call for adding enough water to come about two thirds up the side of the cheesecake. Either way is fine. You don't have to go any higher than that or near the top rim of the cheesecake pan or you'll just steam the cake, which tastes horrible. You also don't want to get water or steam splashed into the cheesecake while it bakes. To prevent a skin from forming on any smooth custard, cover the mold or ramekins with foil.
7.Carefully push the cheesecake pan to the middle and put the shelf back into the oven for baking. Replenish the water when necessary during baking ONLY if you have to. It's best to leave the cheesecake to bake without disturbing it.

I use two cups of cool tap water for the bath. I tired four cups and the steam got into the crust and made it soggy. I also tried it with no water and my POS oven destroyed the thing.

This one is chocolate with chocolate and chocolate and some more chocolate.

I didn't feel like buying chocolate graham crackers to crush for the crust. Mondelez (Nabisco) sells chocolate graham cracker crumbs but I hardly ever see them in the store. They also sell Nilla Wafer crumbs. If you want to crush them yourself, Teddy Grahams work well.

Crust is 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs, 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons butter, and 3 tablespoons Nestle semi - sweet cocoa powder. If you make the crust from chocolate graham crackers, save 1/4 cup of the crust mix and put it on top of the cake when you're done. It was too bitter with the cocoa powder so I didn't use it.

The topping is a grated white chocolate Lindt bar and chocolate sprinkles. Put that one right after you let it cool in the oven for an hour and it will melt just a little bit, so it makes kind of a solid topping that stays put.

I'm going to use 8 ounces of rigotta and 16 ounces of cream cheese in the next one. They were a little too cakey because I whisk them. They crumbled rather than cut, so I added a tablespoon of corn starch. That was too much, as was 1 1/2 teaspoons of it. The next one will get ricotta and 1 teaspoon of corn starch.

16 ounces cream cheese
7.5 ounces ricotta (it was a 15 ounce container)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup gran. sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
3 large eggs
zest of half a lemon
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon corn starch

I whisk the batter so it's very airy and it tends to break up when cut. I tried 1 tablespoon of corn starch - much too much. It changed the texture. I tired 1 1/2 teaspoons of it and that was okay, but still a little too stiff. This one baked at 350 F for 60 minutes. Test your own oven - mine sucks. It should be more like 50 minutes. It cooked a lot more evenly, though.

I've also been putting 1/2 a teaspoon of lemon extract in the crust mix and it's noticeable.

I bought a cheesecake online from The Cheesecake Factory. What a rip-off. Don't. It tasted good, but the thing was tiny. It had more than cream cheese in it, and the original cheesecake recipes didn't use cream cheese because it wasn't invented until around 1600. I think the difference was ricotta. This one will sit overnight before I taste it.

bump to keep it out of the archive

Let us know when you start selling these.

Think bacon extract.

There's an idea - maple syrup with bacon bits. I'll have to find a way to remove the grease from the bacon so it doesn't make a mess on top of the thing.

Concord grape with blackberries



I had some grape extract and I thought, why not? The Greeks and the Romans made cheesecake and they loved grapes. It's not my faulr they were too stupid to put them together.

crust:
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tblespn gran sugar
2 tblspn melted butter
1/4 tspn grape extract

Butter the bottom of a 9" springform pan and save an ounce or two of the crust mix for the side of the pan when you bake the cake.
Bake at 350 F for 9 - 10 minutes until firm and slightly browned.


16 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
8 ounces ricotta
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tblspn sour cream
3 large eggs
1 cup gran sugar
1/2 tspn lemon juice
3/4 tbspn concord grape extract
1/4 tspn corn starch

I used lemon juice to make it a little sour without overpowering the grape flavor. Lemon zest would probably be too strong.
Blend it until there are maybe one or two visible blobs of cream cheese when you spread the batter on the inside of the bowl. No blobs would be perfect, but it takes my KitchenAid mixer about 24 minutes to get it this smooth.

Let the batter sit for five minutes while you warm the oven. I think it helps get some of the air out. Air causes cracks in the cheesecake.

Butter the side of the pan and pour the loose crust mix into it. Roll it around the pan.

I use a throwaway foil turkey pan for a water bath. You'll also need to wrap 18" aluminum foil around the springform pan to keep the water out. Use 2 cups of water. I tired more and it condensed into the cheesecake.

Wrap the pan and put it in the bath, then pour the batter in.

Bake at 350 F. My oven is a piece of crap and I bake it for 55 -60 minutes. It should take 45 minutes, so check it at 45 minutes to see if it's cooked. When it's not cooked, the batter will roll like a liquid when you jiggle the pan. When it's ready, the top will be slightly brown and the center will jiggle a bit when you jiggle the pan.

Shut off the heat and prop the oven door open with something like a wooden spoon. Let it cool for one hour.

blackberry topping
pint of blackberries
1/2 cup gran sugar
2-3 tblspns Ball Instant Pectin

Mush 1/4 of the blackberries in a bowl. The little white blobs you see are the blackberry toruses. Remove them with a spoon - they get hard when they're out of the berry and you don't want them. Pour in the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly for about five minutes. If the topping is too runny, add more instant pectin. I made it a little too thick for this one. It was late and I was impatient. Oops. It still tastes good.

Put the topping on the cheesecake and leave it in the refrigerator overnight. As said before, cheesecake has to sit overnight for the flavors to mix, other wise it doesn't taste tight. You have to make it a day before you want to eat it.

These folks have bacon flavoring and maple extract as well as tons of other flavorings.

If you want something a little creamier, try 4oz of mascarpone in there with 1tsp cinnamon and quality vanilla.

Needs vanilla in the batter.  Bake for an hour. Turn the oven off. Roll up a kitchen towel into a snake, and open oven door long enough and far enough to insert the snake into the door.  Let cool.  A little cornstarch in the batter is additional insurance against cracking.

I use these guys: http://silvercloudestates.com/

They have a natural maple and a maple/bacon. I'm thinking maple cheesecake with a sour cream icing and crushed bacon on top.

Thanks. I wanted it to have a more solid texture than I got with all cream cheese. I thought the ricotta might water it down a bit and make it more dense, but it didn't. I'll try mascarpone next.

My hero!  



 

The supermarket didn't have mascarpone cheese. Wal Mart has it. Figure that one out...

16 oz cream cheese
8 oz ricotta
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 large eggs
3/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp corn starch

Cream cheese icing with bacon bits and walnuts

These cakes are outstanding.  I do have a question.  How does adding ricotta or marscapone cheese change the flavor of the cake?

Ime the mascarpone changes the texture more than the flavor. Makes it more smooth and creamy.

Ricotta didn't change the flavor at all. It made the batter a bit more liquid and easier to blend. It's also cheaper.

I haven't tried mascarpone yet. I just found where they hide it at the local supermarket. It's with the expensive stuff by the deli, not the basic cheese by the lunch meat.


This is why I want to try it.

Thanks guys.. I'll give it a try.

It also changes the cook time rather dramatically. So does ricotta. I noticed the time was different when I put ricotta in it. It took about an hour and twenty minutes to set with ricotta and mascarpone. I used a remote thermometer to check the oven temperature. It was correct. By the time the cheesecake set, the top was dark brown. Not good.

I finally checked some mascarpone recipes online and found that it's cooked for an hour or so and it has to cool in the refrigerator for 12 hours before removing the pan.

That's not a cheesecake, it's a pie.

I'll use the all cream cheese recipe this weekend and post the results. I think this will prove that mascarpone isn't a good idea.

This is the 24 ounce cream cheese recipe cooked in a two cup water bath at 325 F for 55 minutes. I let it cool for 60 minutes in the oven with the door propped open with the blade from a hand blender.



It has no ricotta and no morganza. It set perfectly.

The chemistry interests me. I don't understand what the other cheeses do to change the cake, but a cheesecake made with all cream cheese has a flaky texture. It's not a pie. I know that the heat binds the wheat proteins around the batter in bread and cakes use a low protein flour and adds protein from eggs. This is my extremely basic understanding of baking chemistry.

I know that cheese forms different proteins depending on how it's made, so presumably ricotta and morganza have different protein structures than cream cheese. Cream cheese is a relatively recent innovation and Philadelphia Cream Cheese uses whey protein, carob bean gum, and xanthan gum as stabilizers. Xanthan gum is a product of the 1960s, but it comes from bacteria and lactose protein (among other things) so it may have occurred naturally in older batches of cream cheese. Xanthomonas campestris is a plant disease that causes spotting, so it may have been ingested by dairy cows who were fed unmarketable produce.

The Roman recipe for cheesecake used flour according to Cato the Elder around 200 BC. We are assured that the recipe he recorded is nothing like modern cheesecake. One of these days, I'll have to try it.

Meanwhile, I spent the last two months playing with ricotta and morganza. I washed at least a hundred bucks down the drain, as well a couple of days' work trying to understand why my new recipe did not make what I wanted.

I therefore conclude that cheesecake made with ricotta and/or mascarpone will not produce the tender and delicious result that you want in a cheesecake. It makes pie.

Use the recipe on page 2: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_163/1677558_Cheesecake_with_ricotta.html&page=2#i52788619

There you have it. Science, desert, and free enterprise in the cooking forum. Now if I could only sell the things.

Oh yeah, fuck the government, too.

I haven't had those issues with mine. Not sure what you've got going on there.

This thread just gave me diabetes and that's okay.  

It was still a liquid after I cooked it for over an hour. When I slid the form off the base, it lost its shape because it wasn't fully solid.

What's your recipe? I'd love to see why it didn't work when I tried it.