About 30 years ago, I learned about Kraft recipesfor delicious cheesecake, strawberry, praline, caramel/pecan. So easy. Delish. It's just the regular Kraft recipes, usually for 3 8 oz. pks of cream cheese-the entry model. Jazz it up from there. Very professional looking. Happy Baking.

homey bird, I've never used ricotta in a cheesecake, only cream cheese.

I'm not sure I understand your question regarding condensed milk. Are you using that in addition to the cheese, or instead of cheese? I don't think you can use it instead of the cheese, or it wouldn't be cheesecake, but I've seen several "no-bake" kind of recipes that use cream cheese and condensed milk.

Annie

Being from an area of the country where there is a lot of Italian influence, yes, I've had cheesecake made with ricotta cheese. It definitely has a very different flavor and texture from cream cheese cake. I'd recommend making one ahead of time to taste test, if you've never had one. They're okay, but not as good (IMO) as a cream cheese cheesecake.

I'm not sure about the condensed milk or why you would want to use it. It's superhigh in calories. I like to lighten as many recipes as I can, so for cheesecakes, I use neufchatel rather than the full-fat cream cheese.

I have been making cheese cakes for easily 50 years. I have a recipe for one using cheddar cheese, as well as cream cheese and of course ricotta.
I prefer a New York style cheese cake with full fat cream cheese. I find the ones using low fat cream cheese or neufchatel lack the texture of the ones made full fat....
But I don't make a cheese cake every day and you really shouldn't be eating a huge slice.....so when I make cheese cake...I go the whole way!!

As for the condensed milk?....don't!! at least not in a cheesecake.
Here's the recipe I use most often.
Use this crust or a traditional grahm cracker crust or a zwiebach crust.
Cookie Pastry Crust
� 1/4 lb. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
� 1/4 c. sugar
� 1 egg
� 1 1/2 c. flour

Beat the butter and sugar in a medium mixing bowl with electric mixer on
medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 mins.
Add the egg and flour and mix until a smooth dough is formed.
With your hands, shape it into a ball and flatten it into a disc.
Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it until it's firm.
Remove the sides from the springform pan and press one third of
the pastry evenly over the bottom.
Place on baking sheet and bake in 400F oven for 6 mins. or until golden.
Remove from the oven and cool.
Increase oven temperature to 500F.
Butter the sides of the springform pan and attach it to the bottom.
Press the remaining pastry about two thirds up the sides.
Filling:
Filling
� 5 8-oz. pkgs. cream cheese, room temperature
� 1 3/4 c. sugar
� 3 T. flour
� 2 t. lemon peel
� 1 1/2 t. orange peel
� 1/4 t. salt
� 1/4 t. vanilla
� 5 eggs plus 2 egg yolks, room temperature
� 1/4 c. sour cream

Beat the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed
until smooth and fluffy, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally.
Gradually add the sugar, flour, lemon and orange peel, salt and vanilla, beating constantly.
Add eggs and yolks one at a time, beating well after each egg.
Scrape the bowl one or two more times.
Add in the sour cream; the mixture will be thin.
Pour it into the pastry-lined springform pan.

Put it together

Place the pan on a baking sheet.
Bake it in the oven at 500F for 8 mins. or until the top is golden.
Reduce the oven temperature to 200F (don't open the oven!) and continue to bake it
for 1 hour or until the center jiggles slightly.
When finished cooking, shut off the open, prop the door open,
and let the cheesecake sit in the oven for about 3 or 4 hrs.
Once it's finished cooling, wrap it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it several hours or overnight.

I find that it takes closer to 1 1/4 hours for the cheesecake to be done. And I usually omit the citrus peels and increase the vanilla to 1 1/2 tsps.
And it freezes very well!...(and it's also good to eat frozen!)

Linda, I'm intrigued by your crust recipe, because Jerry doesn't like graham cracker crusts. Thanks for that recipe. Do you try to press the raw dough to the baked dough? It seems implied that you're supposed to do that, but not completely clear.

Sally

Sally2, if your DH doesn't care for graham cracker crusts, you might also try this Nut Crust. I originally started using it because of a friend who was gluten-intolerant. My family has come to prefer the Nut Crust over graham cracker crusts. It is a riff on a nut crust for passover that I found on Epicurious. Unfortunately, I cannot find the original recipe to link back to.

3/4 cup sliced blanched almonds, toasted and cooled
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup matzo cake meal (or other baked goods: cookies*, gluten-free frozen waffles)
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

Whirl all in food processor until the consistency of crumbs. Pat into springform pan. No pre-bake needed. Proceed with cheesecake recipe.

*Trader Joe's ginger cookies are great!

Yes....attach the uncooked dough to the cooked. Just press it together.

I make a nut crust too...but I just butter the poan really well...and grind up some nuts...I like almonds or hazel nuts, mix in a little sugar....and dump into the buttered pan. Shake around so the nuts stick to the bitter and shake it to evenly distribute the nuts on the bottom of the pan....pour in batter and bake as usual.

Ricotta will make a denser, slightly grainier cheesecake.

Low-fat/no-fat cream cheese has a more sour taste, slightly different texture. You may or may not prefer it.

Annie1992 is correct: using sweetened condensed milk is VERY different than a baked cheesecake. If you add lemon juice to the SCM it will thicken (curdle, actually) to the point where it can be cut into slices.

Cheesecakes aren't difficult. Just don't overbake them, and remember that most recipes assume you have allowed yourself sufficient time to cool the cheesecake, then chill it to firm it up before serving.

Hi everyone,

Thanks a TON! Definitely a lot of my mysteries are now solved. Based on the feedback, Ricotta is doable but cream cheese is more mainstream....so I think I will venture out with a cream cheese cheesecake and move on to Ricotta from there.

My question regarding condensed milk came from the fact that a lot of pudding type recipes use very thick milk. I was thinking whether turning them into a solid shape would yield a cheesecake....turns out not! Anyway, thanks for clarification.

I would be definitely interested in continuing the discussion for dessert recipes using condensed milk that somehow solidify to give a more definite shape. This is, because I am experimenting with a few international desserts and trying to adapt them to look like cheesecakes. I would appreciate any sample recipes or pointers for those! I would be actively googling in the meantime of course!!

Thank you again.

If you go to eaglebrand.com you will find recipes for cheesecakes, regular and new york style. If you google cheesecake, you can find no-bake cheesecake. Eagle brand is a standard, gold standard of sweetened condensed milks. Kraft.com, hopefully, will tell you of ordinary, everyday, delicious, rich, versatile cheesecakes, made with cream cheese, Kraft, of course.

I have made both ricotta based and cream cheese based cheesecakes. Both are good but they are totally different animals. Cheesecakes made with cream cheese have a "creamy" tecture compared to ricotta which has a texture just like the ricotta. Both are good but different good. And both can be made lower in fat by using the low fat versions of cream cheese (neufatchel) or ricotta. I actually like the lower fat versions just as well but some don't and prefer the richer versions. The calorie savings isn't that great, so not really worth it but I just prefer less rich desserts, that's just my taste.

Thanks, Linda.

Jkom, the very first time I made a cheesecake, I didn't notice the whole cooling off time part of the recipe. That was one time that I really wish I had CAREFULLY read the whole recipe. Oops.

Sally

Thank you all. It's been so useful coming to this forum. Learnt a lot and am very motivated to try the various recipes using the ingredients mentioned here. I also checked out Eagle brand.com and found many great recipes! Thank you for helping me and happy holidays and dessert making!!

Homey - I almost never post on this forum but I'll help you out.

Ricotta can make a great cheesecake.

You can simply bake ricotta actually, and don't even call it a "cake".

The texture will not be smooth like with Philadelphia Cream Cheese. You can use a crust that's kind of a pate sucree - mix together some butter, flour and sugar and add an egg or two. Can incorporate crushed nuts of some sort if you want. Bake it a bit before putting in the filling - many people don't do that but they should. Matter of fact, do that with the graham cracker crust too - if you put a wet filling on an unbaked crust, the crust will never quite cook right. But be careful - it will burn fast so watch it.

When you're making a cheesecake, what you're really making is a custard. You thicken a custard with eggs. When the temp gets hot enough to change the proteins of the eggs, they solidify and that's why your custard hardens. Exactly the same thing you do with flan, etc. So when you cook it, don't leave it in the oven until it's completely done. Take it out or stop cooking it when the center is still kind of gooey - the internal temp of the custard will finish the cooking itself. If you cook until done completely, you'll end up with an overcooked cheesecake and it won't be smooth.

You don't have to use Philadelphia cream cheese obviously, and the better the cheese, the better the finished product. You can actually make your own and it will be delicious. Get some good yogurt, or make your own yogurt, and strain it well. That's essentially cream cheese - the commercial version adds a lot of starch and stabilizers, but the original is very common in the Middle East, Greece, and France.

Whatever you use, if you whip the batter and incorporate a lot of air, you'll end up with a kind of souffle that will rise and sink, so it's better to mix by hand or with minimal help from the food processor or whatever else you're using.

As always, don't worry about specific measurements in your cooking. As a rule of thumb, if you use those 8 oz packages of cheese, use one egg per package and a tablespoon of sugar. If you like it sweeter, use a bit more sugar or honey or maple syrup or whatever. Also add a pinch of salt and maybe a few drops of vanilla.

From there, you can go anywhere. When they're in season, I add blueberries or raspberries or strawberries, etc. Or peaches, which are wonderful. You can put in a food processor or put in chunks.

For the holidays, add pumpkin - baked not canned because it's less watery, and add some cinnamon, cloves, ginger, etc. Or dice up a jalapeno really fine and incorporate that. Or burnt butter or a banana or melted chocolate or peanut butter. You don't need a "recipe" for any of those - just add what you feel will work. It's the ratio of liquid to egg and the cooking time that is going to make the difference in your final product. You don't need to add sour cream, and I wouldn't.

Or you can make a savory cheesecake - forego the sugar and add chunks of blue cheese, mushrooms, herbs, or whatever. It's essentially a kind of quiche at that point.

What you should NOT do is use condensed milk. That's way too sweet and has a grainy texture that's horrid. If you want something similar, make dulce de leche or confiture du lait - you can do it in a crock pot. Use about 1/2 cup of sugar for every 2 cups of milk and add about a quarter spoon of salt. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down way low and simmer until it's reduced to a fraction of what it was. You decide how thick you want it.

Good luck and happy baking!

Oh, and you can use goat cheese too - a plain chevre works wonderfully, either in whole or in part.

A wonderful member Lou, who no longer posts here, has the most amazing cheesecake recipe. I am not sure how to search for it here.

A friend of mine, Professor "B" last year invented a sweet potato cheesecake, he has gone on TV, talk shows, and has become a very wealthy man selling cheesecakes. You may find his recipe online some place.

dcarch

Here is a link that might be useful: Sweet Potato cheesecake

dcarch, is this the one from Lou (Hawk) you were thinking of?

Lou's Fluffy Cheesecake

Ingredients:

6 extra large eggs, at room temp.( Separated )
1 cup of Vanilla Ice Cream ( softened in micro )
1 1/4 Cups of Sugar( 1/2 cup for the Egg Whites, 3/4 cup for the batter.
1 /4 pound of Butter (softened in micro wave and let cool but still soft)
2 packs of Philadelphia Cream Cheese. ( 16 Oz. )At room temp.
Sugar 3/4 cup for Batter and 1/2 cup for egg whites
1 tablespoon of Lemon Juice
6 Tablespoons of Orange juice & 2 teaspoons of Vanilla flavor
Grate the skin of one orange , with a hand grater, fine side. ( 2 tablespoons ) OR
1 teaspoon of Mc Cormicks Dried Orange Peel
2 heaping tablespoons of AP flour
1/4 cup of Cornstarch

Beat the egg whites first, until they start to peak. Add the 1/2 cup of Sugar,
A little at a time, at a medium speed for 1 minute.
Beat for another 3 minutes, or until they hold stiff peaks.
Put aside, until the batter is mixed.

In a bowl large enough to hold the batter and beaten egg whites,
Add the 6 egg yolks, Cream Cheese, 3/4 cup of Sugar, Lemon juice, Orange Juice,
Softened butter, Vanilla flavor, Flour , Ice Cream and grated Orange skin.

Beat this for 3 to 4 minutes, until smooth, add Cornstarch and mix on low speed 1 minute.

Fold 1/3 of the beaten egg whites into the cake batter,
Then fold in the remaining egg whites , very easily but well.

Pour this into a 10 inch Spring Form Pan that has a Graham Cracker crust,
on the bottom. Wrap the bottom with Aluminum Foil ( for leaks )

Place into a pre heated 320 degree oven on the middle shelf. I use a Baking Stone
Bake for about 50 to 55 minutes or until the top is a Golden tan ( not Dark Tan !!! )
Turn the oven off but leave the cake in, until it cools down.
When cooled down, cover the top with Aluminum Foil and refrigerate, for at least 1 hour.

You can add a topping of your choice , a Pineapple Sauce, preserves, thickened peach pie filling , Etc. I use Strawberry Preserves . OK for freezing.
LOU

Here is a link that might be useful: thread with Lou's cheesecake recipe

Rosesinny, your post was fabulous! Thank you for posting. It answered a lot of my questions.

Also, I am totally up for making my own cream cheese by straining yogurt. It's a fantastic idea!!

dcarch and bbctx, thank you for the recipes.

Overall, posting here is the most educational cheesecake class I've taken yet.