My 1st Cheesecake? ... Well, sort-of

(back and doublin' down) #61

Can’t wait to try this! DIL will help this Saturday and then it will spend a week in the fridge. Or should I freeze it whole after it sets up for a few days? Taking desert to a team meeting next Friday, 3 of us are keto folks, just won’t tell the rest it’s not full of sugar :slight_smile:

#62

It’s up to you really. I can say that when someone orders one from me, I simply make it 3 days before they want it, so it can set up nicely before they get it. But this is just to ensure it gets at least 3 days to tighten up. I have had to make some 4, 5 or 6 days in advance, due to scheduling or just the amount they wanted. _I only have one oven, _ (So I understand if you’re wanting to make it on a weekend.) Once I’ve delivered it to them, it’s still good for more than a week in fridge afterwards, so it will definitely last long enough for your meeting and won’t require freezing. (and it should be quite creamy after sitting for a week too! :slight_smile: I actually often find that I prefer eating those pieces that sat longer because it’s really tightened up and creamy and just seems to get better. (Just most people won’t allow the cake to stick around that long. :smile: )

I’ve actually had a few folks tell me they wanted to make it last longer, so they cut smaller slices and ended up eating on it for nearly two weeks. And I’ve tried this as well, and found that near the end of the second week, it was still good, but started to get so tightened up, it almost started to feel too dry. Like it was now loosing some moisture.

So you should be fine either way. But if you do freeze it, just make sure you take it out in enough time to thaw. Unfortunately, I don’t know how long that takes, since it’s a whole cake and I’ve never done it before. I’ve said I wanted to try this just to do it, and thought this might help with orders, but never did. :slight_smile:

(back and doublin' down) #63

This has me wanting to bake TWO! Maybe I’ll be inspired to order my own springform pan. Thank you so much for the helpful explanation and for posting all the insider tricks!

#64

You’re quite welcome, and I hope you let me know how it works out. :slight_smile:

As noted above in this thread, I plan to eventually switch over all of the other types of Cheesecakes that I make, so they will all be Keto Friendly. So hopefully others may like to give them a try as well.

(Terence Dean) #65

Dave I’ve got all my ingredients ready currently looking at a decent mixer, will most likely buy something this week. I’m interested in making a lemon flavored one using half a cup of caster sugar.

Two questions I do have, excuse me if this sounds a bit obvious but once you’ve baked the cheese cake do you leave it in the spring-form to cool down or do you remove it immediately and place it on a rack to cool? Also do you need to grease the insides with butter before you put the almond flour base in?

#66

Sounds like a plan! I’m sure it will come out fine. It’s actually quite simple, with the crust being the main issue for some. But that too isn’t too bad, and you get better with it in time. Note: the crust keeps the cake from sticking to the sides as well, but I’ve actually done some in earlier years without the sides, or for when I was using an Oreo Cookie Base, which you cannot use on the sides, because it pulls away from the cake because it doesn’t have the give of normal crust . You will just need to run a butter knife around the edges to loosen from cake pan. … But it is much better/easier with crust up the sides, and much easier cleanup too!

As for greasing the pan; Nope, the butter in the crust mix will keep it from sticking. And placing the pan in the fridge, while mixing the cake batter, allows the crust to tighten up. (When I first started, I used to bake it for 5-10 minutes, but found this wasn’t needed and the coolness of the fridge did a better job of solidifying the crust.)

As for cooling; Once the cake is done cooking, I remove it from the oven and place it on the counter, on a wire rack and give it 30-40 minutes or so to cool down some. (I just don’t want moisture to build up on the top, so 40 minutes usually is fine) Then I place it in the fridge. (And yep, the springform stays in place until at least the next day, or at least 24 hrs, for me. But it can can be removed as little as after 8 hours) I simply keep mine in the pan until I’m ready to move it to a cake plate, add topping, or simply box it up. But just make sure you have a cake plate or something to move it to. If you don’t have any cake plates, you can simply take a piece of cardboard, cut out just larger than the cake and cover with Aluminum Foil. (Cheaper too, and reusable. :slight_smile: ) I order mine from Amazon in ten packs, in case you ever wanted to make one to take somewhere. Just an example below.

Oh! - I’m not sure if I mentioned this tip yet in the post above, but you should also place a cookie sheet below the cake pan, in case it leaks. … I’m not sure why this occasionally happens, (1 out of 10?) but my guess is that the seal isn’t perfect sometimes, and it will leak some butter out while baking. And this will just cook on the bottom of the oven and smoke. So I find as a precaution, placing the cookie sheet (or foil) captures this and keeps from making a mess you don’t need. (Let me know how it comes out)

Lastly, I will have to research that caster sugar you mention. Don’t recall hearing of it before?

(Charlotte) #67

This looks amazing! I bet it would be fantastic with a hazelnut flour crust–I might give that a try this weekend!

#68

Wow, that does sound good! :slight_smile: May want to even add some Hazelnut Extract into the mix, to get a bigger punch of Hazelnut, if you have any. … Please do let me know how it comes out if you make it.

Before my Mom passed a few years ago, she loved Cinnamon in hers, so I would add extra into the crust. But when I started adding it the mix, she really loved it. Was more like a spiced Cheesecake I would make for her.

(Terence Dean) #69

Thanks Dave for the detailed answer regarding crust and cooling process, very much appreciated.
Caster Sugar is commonly used in baking because it mixes better than standard table sugar.

https://www.csrsugar.com.au/csr-sugar/our-products/baking/caster-sugar/

#70

You’re welcome. And thanks for the link. - As I said, I wasn’t familiar with it, so wasn’t sure if it was used as much here in the US? So when I looked it up, this is what it said at the top of the page.

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Let me know how it comes out when you make it. - I actually purchased some Strawberry Soft-Spread Cream Cheese for my wife to try the other day, and she loved it. Saying if she knew it tasted so good she would have gotten it sooner! :slight_smile: … Told her I would go ahead and make her a small Strawberry Infused Cheesecake today, since she liked the spread so much. Plan on incorporating the berries into the mix, instead of on top. And plan to add some additional extract to the crust for added boost of flavor.

(Terence Dean) #71

Will do, that sounds like a great idea adding fresh fruit to the cream cheese, does that mean you could cut back on the sugar? Say 1/4 or 1/3 cup of sugar?

#72

Yep, unless you’re wanting it to stay extra sweet. You can easily cut it by a third or so, due to the extra sugars added with the berries. So you right on there, 1/4 or 1/3 should do. Plus I find you taste the fruit better too.

And if you just slightly smash them, opposed to cutting into pieces or slices, this blends it in with the mix better, so you get some chunks here a there, but it’s evenly spread and usually colors the mix as well.

I also find that adding any type of ‘dry’ fruit to the top, it tends to dry out in the fridge. Unless it’s in a thick syrup, such as pie filling, the air simply dries it out.

(Terence Dean) #73

I might try it with raspberries or even boysenberries. The ultimate would be to not need to add any extra sugar, and use berries to sweeten the cream cheese, not sure how that’ll taste though.

#74

I’ve actually cut sugar down to nearly nothing… and yeah, it wasn’t as good. You definitely want some sweetness to counter the cream cheese. So my guess it would have to be a load of fruit to accommodate for this? But adding more would allow one cutting the sugar even more? maybe half, in lieu of say 1/3? Anything helps.

(Terence Dean) #75

Just as an exercise I created a custom recipe in Cronometer and entered all your ingredients for a cheese cake using Erythritol, hopefully I converted the weights of the ingredients correctly. Here is the nutritional breakdown for a 100g serving. I added a cup of raspberries as well. What do you think?

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And this is using 1/3 cup of caster sugar.

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Here is a commercial cheese cake with its nutritional details for comparison.

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(back and doublin' down) #76

Wait! you mean it’s lower in carbs with real sugar than with a sugar substitute? Hmmmmm….I’m now totally confused. And making two of these today. Thinking of making one with chunks of blackberries as those have looked really good in the stores lately.

(Terence Dean) #77

Have you never heard of low carb sugar? :rofl:

I have no idea why the sugar version would have less carbs, it must be an error.

I’m not going to argue with Cronometer, it fits into my menu plan perfectly!

(back and doublin' down) #78

Sooo….you’re going to use the Caster Sugar? (in the US, we can buy ‘baker’s sugar’ which is a more refined sugar) I’m thinking I will feel better sticking with the Swerve

(Terence Dean) #79

Yeah I’m not into artificial sweeteners but I’ll see whether I can lower the sugar to even lower levels than 1/3 cup without it ruining the taste as Dave says. You need a certain amount of sweetness.

(Diane) #80

In the US, you have to tell Cronometer whether or not you want to count sugar alcohols in your net carbs. Since the carbs in erythritol are all sugar alcohols, this will make a difference to your total carb category.