Meeting in the Middle for a Velvety Cheesecake By MELISSA CLARK
AMONG cheesecake lovers, there’s a sharp divide. Some like their cheesecake New York deli style: rich cream-cheese-filled wedges, the best of which have not been shellacked with neon red bits that may or may not be berries.
On the other end of the spectrum are those who prefer an airy cheesecake made with ricotta or fromage blanc or farmer cheese. These cakes, refined and milky, are never slathered with food-coloring-enhanced canned pie filling. They are delicate things.
I spent most of my life on the hulking-deli-slice side of the line. The subtle nuances of the lighter cakes just didn’t satisfy my cheesecake yens.
But one day I met a cake that landed smack in the middle of the two styles. Made with cream cheese, it was velvety and voluptuous. But it also contained crème fraîche and goat cheese, making it fluffy as well as complex, and not terribly sweet.
The key is getting the right flavor balance by choosing a soft fresh goat cheese with a mild but distinct taste. Too strong and you end up in a barnyard; too wimpy and you might as well skip it.
Beating the goat cheese and cream cheese together until they are completely smooth gives the cake its sublime texture. Using room temperature ingredients helps as well.
Since I first sampled this cake, I’ve used it as a showcase for whatever fruit is in season: stewed rhubarb in spring, berries and stone fruit in summer, figs in autumn, cranberries in winter. It’s even good naked and alone, though a pinch of pepper in the batter and a drizzle of good, intense honey (buckwheat, lavender, chestnut), maybe accompanied by toasted nuts, adds sophisticated notes that work all year long.
Feeling nostalgic for those florid glazes of yore, I recently chose a topping of sour cherries, simmered with sugar until they were practically candied. Piled on the stark white cake, the lipstick-red fruit looked scarily like the worst of the hulking deli cakes. But it tasted good enough to please cheesecake lovers in any camp.
Meeting in the Middle for a Velvety Cheesecake By MELISSA CLARK
On the other end of the spectrum are those who prefer an airy cheesecake made with ricotta or fromage blanc or farmer cheese. These cakes, refined and milky, are never slathered with food-coloring-enhanced canned pie filling. They are delicate things.
I spent most of my life on the hulking-deli-slice side of the line. The subtle nuances of the lighter cakes just didn’t satisfy my cheesecake yens.
But one day I met a cake that landed smack in the middle of the two styles. Made with cream cheese, it was velvety and voluptuous. But it also contained crème fraîche and goat cheese, making it fluffy as well as complex, and not terribly sweet.
The key is getting the right flavor balance by choosing a soft fresh goat cheese with a mild but distinct taste. Too strong and you end up in a barnyard; too wimpy and you might as well skip it.
Beating the goat cheese and cream cheese together until they are completely smooth gives the cake its sublime texture. Using room temperature ingredients helps as well.
Since I first sampled this cake, I’ve used it as a showcase for whatever fruit is in season: stewed rhubarb in spring, berries and stone fruit in summer, figs in autumn, cranberries in winter. It’s even good naked and alone, though a pinch of pepper in the batter and a drizzle of good, intense honey (buckwheat, lavender, chestnut), maybe accompanied by toasted nuts, adds sophisticated notes that work all year long.
Feeling nostalgic for those florid glazes of yore, I recently chose a topping of sour cherries, simmered with sugar until they were practically candied. Piled on the stark white cake, the lipstick-red fruit looked scarily like the worst of the hulking deli cakes. But it tasted good enough to please cheesecake lovers in any camp.
Crème Fraîche Cheesecake With Sour Cherries
FOR THE CHEESECAKE:
1 1/2 cups cream cheese
1/2 cup fresh goat cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups crème fraîche
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 large eggs
FOR THE CHERRIES:
2/3 cup sugar
2 pints sour cherries, pitted
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar.
1. To make the cheesecake, heat the oven to 325 degrees. Wrap the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with foil and place on a baking sheet.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and goat cheese until very smooth. Add the sugar and continue beating until no lumps remain. Beat in the crème fraîche, vanilla and pepper. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions, and beat until combined.
3. Pour the mixture into the pan and bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 250 degrees and bake until the cake is just set (it will still wobble a little in the middle), 45 to 60 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. While the cheesecake is cooling, make the cherry topping. Pour the sugar and
2/3 cup water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup has thickened, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the cherries and balsamic vinegar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cherries soften and release their juices, 2 to 3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cherries to a bowl. Continue cooking the liquid in the pan until the sauce reduces by half, about 10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and stir the cherries and any juice from the bowl back in.
5. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake from the pan before unmolding and serving with the cherry topping.
Yield: One 9-inch cheesecake.
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