Baked lemon cheesecake

I haven't been able to find a dairy free cheesecake, which is also soy free. This recipe meets those criteria (it does contain eggs, though, so it is not vegan) and it looks as good as ordinary cheesecake. It is also completely limit-free. I think it tastes good, but my husband can detect an after taste. I don't know whether this is due to an overdose of almonds or whether it's the stevia he can taste. It's not that I'm immune to a stevia aftertaste, as I have recognised it in other recipes. Anyway, see what you think.


For this recipe, you will need the following equipment:
a freestanding blender to make the almond cheese prior to making the cheesecake
a freestanding mixer (fitted first with the whisk attachment; have the beater attachment to hand to use later on)
an electric hand-held whisk
a 23-24 cm (9 inch) springform baking tin
a roasting tin in which to place the cake tin; one deep enough to allow you to it fill to halfway up the sides of the cake tin, i.e. the cake tin should not touch the sides of the roasting tin, and water should surround the cake tin. If you haven’t got a big enough roasting tin for that size cake tin, use a smaller cake tin, but you’ll have to throw some of the topping mixture away because it won’t all fit in the tin.

Usually, when you make a cheesecake, you can buy in the biscuits for the base and the cream cheese etc, for the topping. Here, you have to make everything from scratch. This recipe is not for the faint hearted, but I think the results justify the time and effort. Because of the work involved and the cooking / cooling time required, I think it is best to start preparing this cheesecake two days before you plan to serve it. On the first day, make the orange biscuits and the almond cheese and refrigerate. On the second day, make the cheesecake itself, cook and allow to cool, then refrigerate overnight (it needs this time in the fridge to solidify and for the flavours to come through). Serve on the third day.

Helen

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Baked lemon cheesecake

For the base
1 quantity “Orange biscuits for cheesecake base” (total weight approx. 300g), made in advance, then processed into crumbs after refrigeration. See http://wholeapproachforums.com...141099073/m/22810658.
55 g / ¼ cup coconut oil, weighed / measured at room temperature

For the topping
3 large eggs (to be separated - see below)
Pinch of salt for whisking egg whites
1 quantity plain almond cheese (approx. 500g – a bit less or a bit more is fine). See http://wholeapproachforums.com...141099073/m/64810658.
6 tsp FOS/Stevia mix
6 TBSP vegetable glycerine
Zest of 3 organic lemons and the juice of 1
125 g / 1¼ cups ground almonds

1. To make the base, melt the coconut oil in a medium saucepan. Add the processed biscuit crumbs and stir. Press the oiled crumbs into the base of a 23-24 cm (9 inch) Springform cake tin. Cool in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 170 °C/325 °F/Gas mark 3.
3. Separate the eggs into a small bowl one by one, transferring each time the yolk to the bowl of a freestanding mixer and the white to a large mixing bowl. Using the whisk attachment, whisk the yolks in the freestanding mixer for 10 minutes until light and mousse-like. When the mixture is ready, you’ll be able to make a ribbon like trail on top of the mixture when you lift the whisk.
4. Put a kettle full of water on to boil.
5. Replace the whisk attachment on the freestanding mixer with the beater attachment. Add to the mixer bowl the almond cheese, FOS/Stevia mix, vegetable glycerine, zest of 3 lemons and the juice of 1 and the ground almonds. Beat briefly to thoroughly mix, but do not over beat.
6. Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites waiting in the separate large mixing bowl and whisk using an electric hand-held whisk until stiff peaks form. Add the topping mixture from the freestanding mixer bowl to the whisked egg whites a third at a time and gently fold in with a metal spoon.
7. Remove the cake tin with the prepared crumb base from the fridge and wrap the base and sides of the tin with foil (without covering the top of course!). Do this a second time so that you have 2 layers.
8. Pour the cheesecake topping into the cake tin and transfer the cake tin into the roasting tin. To make a water bath, pour the boiled water from the kettle into the roasting tin until it comes halfway up the sides of the cake tin and surrounds it.
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 1½ hours. Don’t open the oven door to check for at least one hour. If after 1¼ hours the top of the cheesecake is already brown and you think it might burn with further cooking, cover the top with foil and continue cooking for the last 15 minutes. When cooked, a skewer should come out clean when inserted into the middle. The top will be most springy to the touch around the outside and less so in the middle (where it is less cooked). I was brave the second time I made the cheesecake and left it in the oven without opening the door (and without covering) for the full 1½ hours. The result was a golden brown top with no cracks.
10. Place a tea towel and a plate under the cooling rack you intend to use (to catch any water that may come out when you place the cake tin on it and remove the foil). Remove the cheesecake from the oven, then remove the cake tin from the water bath. Place the tin on the cooling rack, remove the foil and position the tin over the plate underneath the cooling rack. When the cheesecake has cooled completely, leave it in the tin and place on top of a plate (in case the cake tin has grease under the base). Cover and place in the fridge, leaving it there until the next day.
11. Remove the cheesecake from the fridge about 20 minutes before eating to take the chill off and remove from the tin and onto a serving plate just before serving. If you find the knife doesn’t go through the cheesecake smoothly, you can immerse the knife blade in hot water between cutting each time (but I don’t find slicing is a problem).
Cover what is left of the cheesecake with an upturned cake storage tin and put back in the fridge.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Tarilee,

Helen,

Thanks for posting these recipes! Sounds yummy. Now, I think I gave my springform pan away as I never used it. Is it possible to use another type of pan?

Sarah

Hi Sarah

The cheesecake is quite delicate. If using an ordinary cake tin without springform sides or a loose bottom, you would have to turn the cheesecake upside down onto a plate, then place a plate on the upside down base of the cheescake and turn it back up the right way. I fear that your topping would collapse.

On the other hand, if you have a loose-bottomed cake tin (without springform sides), you might have more luck, as you won't have to turn the cheesecake upside down. You'll need to push that base up so that the outer ring drops down, releasing the cheesecake. The best way to do this, is to place the cake tin on top of a jam jar and push the outer ring down, so that the base stays on the jam jar and the ring is down around the base of the jar. You may want to enlist another person's help to hold the cheesecake in place while you pull the outer ring down. Transfer the cheesecake on the cake tin base to a plate, then ease it off the base onto another plate, so that it is completely free of the tin.

Don't atempt to do any of this manoeuvering on the day you make the cheesecake; you need it to harden off in the fridge overnight.

Helen

Maybe I'd better borrow the springform pan back!