Thursday, January 3, 2013

Cheesecake

Happy New year!!!! Let's welcome 2013 with lots of hope and dreams to come true.  I very badly, wanted to have cheesecake. I have been overwhelmed many times looking at the cheesecake and not being able to have it because of egg or gelatin in it. I experimented with agar agar and Philadelphia cream cheese here. I have never used agar agar in any way. Since agar agar has a tendency to set even in normal temperature, tried doing all steps and kept my fingers crossed thinking of the results. To my temptation and eagerness the cheesecake turned out so good and had set so nicely.

Surprisingly, the gelatin desserts are passed of as vegetarian. Gelatin is obtained from various animal by-product. If you are so specific use agar agar which is obtained from plant - a natural gelatine.

This is a no-bake cheesecake. If you don't have springform pan, take a normal baking or any pan, line up with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Overhang on all sides. After the cake is set, using the foil lift it up and serve. This is the cool technique that you can have your cheesecake bars as square or rectangle or any shapes.

Ingredients:
  • Cream cheese -  3 cups
  • Condensed milk - 1 tin or Powdered sugar - 1 cup
  • Agar agar - 10 gm or 8 tbsp
  • Lemon juice - 3 tbsp
  • Lemon zest - 1 tsp
 For crust:
  • Graham crackers - 1.5 cup, crushed
  • Butter - 1/2 cup
Method:
For crust:

Place all the biscuits in ziploc bag, and using a rolling pin powder it. Transfer to mixing bowl. Put butter (room temperature or microwave it) and mix it.


Press in a springform pan evenly. (use any cup to press evenly) and refrigerate it for half an hour or freeze for 15 minutes.

For layer:

Break the agar agar into small pieces and soak in 1 cup of water for 15 minutes. In a saucepan place the agar agar and water mixture and stir on low heat until it melts completely, about 5 to 6 minutes. Do not allow this to boil.
Grate the lemon for zest. Heat a sauce pan with 1/2 cup of water and add the lemon zest. After the agar agar melts completely, pour the hot agar agar solution into the hot lemon zest water, stirring all the while.
In a processor or blender combine cream cheese, condensed milk or sugar and process until smooth and creamy. Gradually add it to the cheese mixture. Stir until blended. Pour this mixture over the crust and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight for best results.
Serve as a plain cheesecake or with blueberry sauce on top.

Blueberry sauce:

Ingredients:
  • Blueberry - 1/2 cup, divided
  • Blackberry - 1/2 cup, divided
  • Cornstarch - 1 tsp
  • Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
  • Lemon zest - 1 tsp
  • Brown sugar - 1/4 cup
  • Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
  • Salt - a pinch
Method:

Heat a sauce pan, with cornstarch, brown sugar, zest, lemon juice. Whisk together. Add 1/4 cup of both berries, salt and vanilla extract. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes or until thickened. Add the remaining berries and cook for 2 minutes.
Cool and store in refrigerator for a week.
Note:
  • I used honey maid graham crackers, you can use any crackers of your choice.
  • Agar Agar also known as china grass helps to set when both the liquids are hot, so make sure both the temperatures are right.
  • This is just a plain cheesecake, you can use your imagination to make them with any fruit like mango, strawberry, blueberry,..... Same with sauce you can prepare mango sauce or any fruit with the same method in the place of berries.

22 comments:

Hema said...

Awesome, should've tasted great with the blueberry sauce..

Manju @ Manjus Eating Delights said...

Awesome , Awesome cheesecake recipe...Loved the simplicity of it! Good job!

Regards,
Manju
http://manjuseatingdelights.blogspot.com/

Sravs said...

Wow super tempting and beautiful cheesecake !!

Sangeetha M said...

Happy New Year Anu! Cheese cake sounds very delicious...perfect for the new year celebration..love it!!

Priya Suresh said...

Happy new year wishes Anu. Thats a great looking and beautiful cheesecake, cant take my eyes from that slice topped with the blueberry sauce.

Amina Creations said...

Happy New year... cheese cake looks fabulous... please pass on a plate...

divyagcp said...

Delicious Cheesecake.. You have made it perfectly.

Sangeetha Nambi said...

Happy new year Anu... Really tempting cheese cake...
http://recipe-excavator.blogspot.com

Easy (EZ) Editorial Calendar said...

Looks yum and well explained.Thank you so much for sharing this:)

Did you get a chance to check the website www.ezedcal.com/ta to manage editorial calendar easily for your blog and show your editorial calendar in your blog easily (optional)
Thanks & Regards
Malar

Lifewithspices said...

yummy yummy chesse cake..

Vimitha Durai said...

New year wishes dear... The cheesecake looks so smooth n yum

Menaga Sathia said...

Happy new yr anu!! cheesecake looks awesome...

Anonymous said...

What a delicious looking cheesecake!! so creamy and scrumptious!
Mary x

divya said...

Wow super tempting and beautiful cheesecake !!

Unknown said...

Happy New year. Just love the combi you have used on the cake. yummlicious.

Julie said...

Happy new year,tempting slice!
Join EP event-Nutmeg OR Parsley @ Chef Mireille's Global Creations

Abbe@This is How I Cook said...

Have never tried agar agar but it sounds great and looks great! this will get my new year off to a great start!

Cakelover said...

Hey this looks fantastic, are Graham Crackers what we in the UK call digestive biscuits? They look the same in your pictures when crushed, found this recipe on hubpages tried it and it really works but this ones baked http://nuffsaidstan.hubpages.com/hub/NUTTY-CHOCOLATE-TOFFEE-CHEESECAKE

hotpotcooking said...

I am not sure the graham crackers and digestive biscuits are same. But for sure you can use the digestive biscuits or any crackers of your choice.

Manju said...

good one :)

mayuri patel said...

The cheesecake looks yummy. I want to try it out. However before I do so, just need some clarification. Ins't 10g of agar agar about 2 tbsps? So do I use 10g or 8 tbsp as you have mentioned?

hotpotcooking said...

Mayuri sorry for my late response, since we are moving I didn't have internet access. If you are using agar agar in powder form use 8 tbsp, if it is like long threads use 10 grams.

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