Cheesecake Tips!

Celebrate National Cheesecake Day and National Dessert Day.

"Almost all modern cheesecakes in the United States use cream cheese; in Italy, cheesecakes use ricotta; Germany and Poland use quark cheese."

"The type of cheese not only affects texture and taste but the ability to incorporate certain types of ingredients. When cheesecake batter is too thin, many cheesecakes will not be structurally sound and fall apart at the table. One way to get around this is to use unflavored gelatin or a little cornstarch beaten with the eggs.

"A common difficulty with baking cheesecakes is its tendency to "crack" when cooled. This is due to the coagulation of the beaten eggs in its batter. There are various methods to prevent this. One method is to bake the cheesecake in a hot water bath to ensure even heating. Other methods include blending a little cornstarch into the batter or baking the cheesecake at a lower temperature and slow cooling it in the oven, turned off, with the door ajar. If these methods fail, a common practice is to cover the top of the cheesecake with toppings such as fruit, whipped cream, or cookie crumbs."

"Alternatively cracks can also be reparied by simply using a flat knife and some warm water. After the cake has been chilled for a few hours, simply dip the kinfe in warm water and mold the cheesecake as if sculpting. Cracks and uneveness can easily be taken care of in this fashion. This method also works well for repairing the sides and giving the final cheesecake a flawless look. For crater size cracks, try using the bits that are stuck on the side of the pan to help repair the damage."

"Another common problem, particularly with baked cheesecakes, is that the biscuit base becomes too soft. For extra crunch, replace around a quarter of the crushed biscuits with Grape Nuts."

"Many types of cheesecake are essentially custards, which can lead a novice baker to overcook them, expecting them to behave like true cakes."

"A sour cream-style cheesecake uses close to a 1:1 volume ratio of cream cheese to sour cream to make the traditional texture that crumbles like a good roquefort cheese with a distinctive sunken center and a golden-colored top from the Maillard reaction. An extra egg white brushed on the top can achieve the same effect in less time if you desire the cheesecake to be "gooey" when set."

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Fruity Cheesecake Ideas:

Compote:

Compote is considered a dessert for the most part but cooked and served over cheesecake is a delicacy to say the least. Whole fruits are immersed in water with sugar and spices added and cooked over gentle heat. Many of us are not even familure with the word "compote"- but now you know :)

If making your own homemade compote is not your thing..... don't frett over it at all. It's just as easy to use your favorite jar of preserves or even a couple of different flavors and mix them. Preserves are used all the time as a sauce on all kinds of desserts and even better when your in the middle of a time crunch :)

Fruit Compote for more food facts :)

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About Cheesecake /Pies / Pie Recipes / Cakes

Resources: This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses some material from Wikipedia/article cheesecake/ and other related pages. Top photo: South-African_Rose_baked_Cheese_Cake