Its all about Cheese Cake

Earlier this week, I came across a cheese cake recipe on this blog:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/04/new-york-cheesecake/

My normal cheese cake is a very dense, very rich, very heavy cheese cake that I learnt how to make when I lived in Nice. As scrumptious as it is, it is not something that anyone who wants to stay in their current clothes size can afford to make more than once a year. Think rich cream, marscapone, ricotta, eggs and probably a visit to a cardiologist!

Anyway going back to my new cheese cake I looked at the photo and thought “mmmm I NEED cheese cake!” Seriously now I really wanted to go to the shops and make my cheese cake which never fails to leave people wanting more. Then I thought about my new smaller trousers and just couldn’t bring myself to go through with it. Instead I decided to look at the recipe for the new york cheese cake but even that had too much everything for me. I needed a cheese cake that would do everything that a good cheese cake does but it had to be light! I know, I know an oxymoron but this IS good and light. Everything from the base to slightly stiff sides to the oh-so-delicate inside of this cake is 100% cheese cake. The only difference is instead of feeling as if the cheese cake sticks to your sides on the way down you feel easy.

Light Cherry Cheese Cake

Base
50g butter
100g of gf biscuits and gf muesli

Melt the butter and mix in the crushed biscuits and muesli. Gently press into a cake tin. There should be enough to thinly cover the base of the cake tin. Make sure to leave no holes in the base. Place in the fridge to firm up.

Cake
I’ve used gluten free flour as I am coeliac. Gluten free flour is considerably lighter than flours which contain gluten and I feel that they would be quite heavy in this instance.

50g doves farm gluten free flour
170g 0% fat strained greek yoghurt
300g light cream cheese
4 eggs separated
75g vanilla sugar

Set oven at 180 degrees
Mix egg yolks and sugar, followed by the yoghurt and cream cheese.
In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until they reach stiff peaks. Then gradually fold them in to the cheese mix with a metal spoon a bit at a time. Make sure not to knock all the air out of the egg whites.
Pour the mixture into the cake tin (on top of the base). Place the cake tin into a larger baking tin and place a couple of cm of water into the larger tin, then place in the oven at 180 degrees for 30 mins.
After 30 mins the cheese cake will have souffled but will be wobbly in the middle. Turn the heat down to 100 degrees for 1 hour or until the middle has set. Top up the water if it evaporates.
Remove from the oven and from the tin.
If the base is wet then invert on to a flat sheet pan and place in the oven for 10mins and then flip again.


Topping
Using preserved fruit alone can be quite flat tasting. I used belle cerise ( a cross between a plum and a cherry) because I had them. Fresh cherries or plums would work well to add some tartness to the preserved cherries.

340g cooked cherries in light syrup
100g belle cerise
25g sugar
1 teaspoon arrowroot

In a pan put the belle cerise and gently heat them up for a couple of minutes before adding in the preserved cherries with the sugar and syrup. Try and use a pan the same circumference as the cake tin. There should be enough fruit to cover the base of the pan, add in more if needed.
Take a tablespoon of the syrup and mix with the arrowroot in a bowl and then pour it into the pan. Cook until the sauce has thickened.
Arrange the fruit on top of the cheese cake and pour the syrup all over.