Recipe Revision: Baked Cheesecake, but a large one this time! (Gluten Free Option)

I know I shouldn't be tempting you all during Lent, but here is a particularly luscious and decadent treat: baked cheesecake!

I love cheesecake, and I particularly like baked cheesecake. I've never been a huge fan of chilled cheesecake because the texture is too jellyish, and I really detest the feeling of jelly. Baked cheesecake has a super rich, dense texture with a smooth finish that's irresistible.

I have done many baked cheesecakes over the years, from peanut butter and chocolate, to coconut and lime, to black forest style, to tiramisù, to my most popular Millionaire's cheesecake, but you have noticed that they are all small. And some of them are made with a meringue base, which has high likelihood of shrinkage, which has always irked me, despite lauding the development at the time. 

But not only have I had difficulty with making little cheesecakes, which are supposed to be easier, I've always found it incredibly difficult to get large cheesecakes to work: they are plagued with cracks, sunken surfaces, or shrinkage. They never had the lusciousness I wanted.

However, over the last year or so, I have been experimenting with more recipes that use baked custard style fillings. I did a pumpkin pie, which is a custard based on mashed pumpkin, evaporated milk, and eggs, which made me realise that cheesecake filling is essentially a glorified cream cheese custard.

It all made sense all of a sudden.

Custard bases are cooked at a low temperature to set, rather than bake like a cake. And the enemy of all custard fillings is the unnecessary addition of air.

I modified the ratio of the pumpkin pie recipe, which essentially uses one egg to set about half a pound (225 grammes) of purée and four fluid ounces (120 millilitres) of evaporated milk, and simply did a swap. I also used the same baked biscuit crumb base as I did in my Key Lime pie and Mississippi Mud pie recipes.

It all seems so simple now! (Of course, all people's ovens an ingredients are different, so a success for me won't automatically convert to success for others. But don't be discouraged!)

INGREDIMENTS
For one 8 inch (20 centimetre) round cake

For the crust,

• 8 ounces (225 grammes) plain biscuits, crushed, such as digestives, or gluten free variety
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) butter, melted
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) brown or white sugar

For the filling (all ingredients must be room temperature for the best results,

• 1 pound (455 grammes) full fat cream cheese (you can also replace half with marscapone for even smoother results)
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) caster sugar
• 6 fluid ounces (180 millilitres) natural yoghurt (for a thick, dense cheesecake), or whipping cream (for a lighter, more custardy cheesecake)
• 2 medium eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) vanilla essence, or lemon juice, or any essence you like
• Optional: 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) lemon zest, or zest of any citrus fruit you like

HOW-TO

First, make the base

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4), and line the sides of an 8 inch (20 centimetre) round loose-based cake tin, and wrap the loose bottom with foil. Put the bottom back into the tin and set aside.
• Crush the biscuits finely, and mix in a large bowl with the butter and sugar. Mix until the crumbs are all damp with the melted butter, until it looks like wet sand.
• Pour the crumbles into the cake tin, and press the mixture into the base and sides of the tin, about two inches (5 centimetres) up. Make sure it's packed good a tight: you can use a flat bottomed glass to get the corner nice and sharp.
• Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the surface of the biscuit base is set.
• Once cooked, remove from the oven and reduce the heat to 150°C (300°F, Gas Mk.2), or turn it off until you want to use it again.
• Allow to cool completely before you fill it; about half an hour.

Then, make the filling,

• Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F, Gas Mk.2).
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth with a wooden spoon. Avoid the temptation to use an electric mixer, as that will introduce too much air.
• Add the sugar in a little at a time, mixing well between each addition. I add it gradually because sometimes if you add all the sugar it can make the cream cheese go runny.
• Mix in the yoghurt, vanilla essence, and lemon zest, if using, and then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each one.
• Once all the ingredients are well mixed together, gently pour the mixture into the base. Tap it gently on the work surface to rise all the little air bubbles to the surface. If you want to eliminate as many bubbles as possible, run a knife through the mixture.
• Place in the centre of the preheated oven and bake for an hour. Keep an eye on it after 45 minutes, just in case your oven runs hot.
• After 45 minutes, check the cheesecake: gently slide the oven shelf out, and--making sure to protect your hand with an oven glove or tea towel--gently shake the cheesecake. The outside two inches (5 centimetres) or so should be completely set, and the centre should wiggle like a jelly. If you touch the top of the cake with a clean fingertip, the surface should be dry, not sticky.
• If the cake doesn't pass the test, cook for a further ten minutes before testing again.
• When the cake is cooked, turn off the oven and open the door. Cool the cake to room temperature in the oven, then move to the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours. Overnight is best.

VARIATIONS

• You can replace up to half of the cream cheese with peanut butter, coconut cream (which is the firm bit in a can of separated coconut milk), or chocolate hazelnut spread.
• You can add in ground spices or cocoa powder also, making sure to sieve it in to prevent lumps.
• Switch up the essences, or citrus juice, if you like.
• You could also swirl in some syrup, lemon curd, or jam for a pretty marble effect with a good flavour.
• If you like, you can change the kind of biscuits you use in the base. You could use chocolate biscuits, or spiced biscuits, or a mixture of any biscuits you like.

No blogs on this day in 2014, 2015, or 2016

THIS TIME IN 2013: Wheat Flour Alternatives

Recipe Revision: Doughnuts (Wheat-Free with Dairy Free Option)

Every so often, I like to revisit and revise some recipes that I think need tweaking. I take on the feedback, and make adjustments to the recipes, and this time I'm having a look at my doughnuts recipe.

I've been using the same doughnut recipe for a while now, and it's been doing the job. However, the most common bits of feedback is that they're too dry, the crusts are too thick, and that they crack when they cook. A few people, both online and in the real world, have said that they would prefer something a little more moist and soft, like a "shop bought" doughnut, and I would actually agree with them.

To achieve this, I did a few things:

1. I reduced the amount of raising agent. This was causing the doughnuts to rise too quickly and too much, causing the cracking on the surface.
2. I upped the amount of milk in the recipe, to make the dough softer and a little cakier.
3. I swapped the oil for butter/margarine, and upped that too for more moisture. The block fat is melted to make mixing easier at the start, but sets up to solid again after a brief chill, making the dough - which now has more moisture - firm up and become easier to work with.

Also, another comment that was made, and that I personally experienced, is that the recipe I was using made dense and dry doughnuts that were difficult to fill with jam using the standard syringe method after cooking. However, no matter how many variations I tried, this was always the case. Also, sometimes the round doughnuts with no hole never cooked fully through, or needed way too long in the oil

To combat this, I had a go at filling the doughnuts before frying and it worked a treat! It also meant that they cooked faster and more evenly in the oil.

In the photos below, you can see a batch of doughnuts with glazed rings, and jam doughnuts. You can see in the sides of these ones where I attempted to inject jam, which didn't work at all. In the second photo, which had the jam sandwiched inside the raw dough before frying, the jam inside the doughnut, and the texture of the crumb of the cake itself. This method was far more effective. That's my brother's hand; can't you see the family resemblance?

FREE FROM

☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Wheat

CONTAINS
☒ Gluten
☒ Refined sugar products
☒ Eggs
☒ Dairy (you can use block margarine instead of butter, and water instead of milk)

INGREDIMENTS

For the dough:

• 6 ounces (170 grammes) white spelt flour
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) cornflour
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 medium egg
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) butter or block margarine, melted and cooled
• 4 fluid ounces (120 millilitres) milk or water, or milk alternative, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• Optional: ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg

For filling and decoration:

• 4 ounces (115 grammes) raspberry, strawberry, or any jam you'd like, sieved to remove seeds and pieces of fruit
• Icing sugar
• Food colouring
• Sprinkles
• Caster sugar
• Cinnamon

METHOD:

• In a mixing bowl, sieve the flour, cornflour, sugar, (nutmeg, if using) and baking powder together. Make a well in the centre, and add in the egg, butter, and milk. Mix with a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are fully moistened, and the ingredients are well combined. The dough will seem very, very sticky, but don't freak out: it needs a stint in the fridge to set/
• Cover the mixing bowl with a sheet of cling film, or a slightly damp tea towel, and put in the fridge for about 30 minutes, or until the dough is firm to touch, but still a little tacky.
• In a saucepan filled with about 2 inches (5 centimetres) of flavourless oil, such sunflower oil, or in a deep fat fryer, preheat the oil to 190˚C (375˚F). Line a plate with a double layer of kitchen paper, for draining. I use a deep fryer because it's safer, and also because the heat is more consistent, which makes more consistent doughnuts.
• Dredge your work surface, rolling pin, and cutters very well with flour. You will need a 3 inch (7½ centimetre) round cutter for all the doughnuts, and a 1½ (3¾  centimetre) round cutter to cut out the middles of the ring doughnuts.

To make ring doughnuts,

• Roll the soft dough out on the surface, keeping flour nearby in cake it sticks, to a thickness of half an inch (1 centimetre).The mixture is very sticky and very soft, but that's how you want it, DO NOT be tempted to add more flour, because it'll make the dough too dry, which will cause the crusts to crack too much while frying.
• Cut out the doughnuts out with the big cutter, then their middles with the small cutter, and lie them on a baking paper line tray, to make frying easier. Gather up and re-roll the trimmings and punched out middles, being careful not to work the dough too much or be too rough with it; it’s delicate and temperamental.
• Using a fish slice and a table knife, put a doughnut on the fish slice, lower it into the oil, and slide it off the slice with the flat of the knife. This stops the doughnuts from losing their shape. Only fry a few at a time, because they need room to puff up, and if you put too many in at once you will make the temperature of the oil will drop too much.
• Fry the doughnuts for a total of 3 to 4 minutes, flipping half way through. You can tell when they’re ready to flip because the outside of the doughnuts, and the inside of the hole, will be a nice golden brown colour around the edge. If they brown too quickly, your oil is too hot, and if they don’t brown in two minutes, the oil is too cold.
• Flip and finish cooking, then remove with a slotted spoon and drain on the kitchen paper lined plate, blotting off all the excess oil. Move to a wire rack to cool.

To make jam doughnuts,

• Roll the soft dough out on the surface, keeping flour nearby in cake it sticks, to a thickness of a quarter inch (6 millimetres). Try and get the dough into a nice a rectangle as you can.
• On one half of the rectangle, spoon teaspoonfuls of jam, about 2 inches (5 centimetres) apart, then fold the plain dough over, covering the jam blobs, pressing the edges around the jam gently. Use the big round cutter to cut out around the jam, making little round jam and dough sandwiches; treat them gently. Gather up and re-roll the trimmings as with the ring doughnuts.
• In the same way as the ring doughnuts, use a fish slice to lower them into the oil and a knife to push them off. These take a little longer to cook: about 5 minutes, flipping half way through. You can tell when they’re ready to flip because the outside of the doughnuts will be a nice golden brown colour around the edge. If they brown too quickly, your oil is too hot, and if they don’t brown in two minutes, the oil is too cold.
• Flip and finish cooking, then remove with a slotted spoon and drain on the kitchen paper lined plate, blotting off all the excess oil. Move to a wire rack to cool.

To decorate,

• Once the doughnuts are cool, you can decorate them however you want. You can mix some caster sugar with some cinnamon, and toss the doughnuts in that to coat, or just toss them in plain caster sugar.
• Or, you can make some simple glaze with water and icing sugar, adding some food colouring if you like, and dip them in it. Decorate with sprinkles.

These new revised doughnuts are much nicer in texture and flavour than their predecessors, and using the pre-filling method is much more effective. You can, of course, fill them with whatever you like: custard, nutella, marmalade, peanut butter, marmite, superglue, or whatever your heart desires... within reason, obviously.

THIS TIME IN 2014: Variation on a Theme: Persian Banana Bread

THIS TIME IN 2013: Sweeties Make Great Gifts, Hopefully