Here it is, a sugarless cheesecake recipe with minimal measuring. Do not attempt it unless you are familiar with cheesecakes or have a knack for getting things right the first time.
Size of pan? Uh... I mentioned not to attempt the recipe unless you're familiar with cheesecakes. Make the filling before the crust, which needs to be pre-baked, and choose a pan or two according to the amount in your mixing bowl. If you have a well stocked kitchen, you'll definitely have something suitable.
Filling: 500 grams (two Israeli containers) cottage cheese - or a bit more*, 250 grams (one Israeli container) white cheese, splash of apple (or other fruit) juice concentrate, dollop of honey (so that you can call it a milk and honey cake, although you can use either just the concentrate or just the honey) - you decide how sweet you want it, three-four eggs, and enough flour so that the filling will firm when baked but not so much that the cake isn't a cheesecake. (You can add more spices to the filling but my kids won't eat it so I just sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on top for the delicate flavor and coloring.) Mix ingredients well but not so much that the cottage cheese is as smooth as the white cheese. Pour filling into pre-baked crust. The oven pre-heated for the cake when the crust baked. Bake cake until the filling is firm. Turn off oven. Let cake cool in oven. I find that that gives the cake a nice consistency.
Crust: half cup oil, splash of apple juice concentrate (you decide how sweet you want it), half cup-cup water, 2-3 teaspoons baking powder (part or all of an Israeli package), spices (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice etc.) to taste and enough flour to make a firm dough. I sometimes add sugar, organic unrefined, but it's not necessary. Mix ingredients well until you have a firm ball. Refrigeration helps firm the dough. Roll dough to desired thickness and line the bottom and sides of the cake pan which has been either oiled and floured or lined with baking paper. (In spite of what the cookbooks always say you do not need a spring-form pan.) Cut extra dough into cookies. Decorate cookies with nuts or dried fruit if you like. Pre-heat the oven if that's the way you do it; I don't always. Bake crust for about 10 minutes at 180 degrees C and the cookies for a little bit longer. The original recipe that I (sort of) followed said to let the crust cool before adding the filling, but I didn't and it's not necessary.
* This is a good opportunity to use cottage cheese left over from another Shavuot recipe.
Size of pan? Uh... I mentioned not to attempt the recipe unless you're familiar with cheesecakes. Make the filling before the crust, which needs to be pre-baked, and choose a pan or two according to the amount in your mixing bowl. If you have a well stocked kitchen, you'll definitely have something suitable.
Filling: 500 grams (two Israeli containers) cottage cheese - or a bit more*, 250 grams (one Israeli container) white cheese, splash of apple (or other fruit) juice concentrate, dollop of honey (so that you can call it a milk and honey cake, although you can use either just the concentrate or just the honey) - you decide how sweet you want it, three-four eggs, and enough flour so that the filling will firm when baked but not so much that the cake isn't a cheesecake. (You can add more spices to the filling but my kids won't eat it so I just sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on top for the delicate flavor and coloring.) Mix ingredients well but not so much that the cottage cheese is as smooth as the white cheese. Pour filling into pre-baked crust. The oven pre-heated for the cake when the crust baked. Bake cake until the filling is firm. Turn off oven. Let cake cool in oven. I find that that gives the cake a nice consistency.
Crust: half cup oil, splash of apple juice concentrate (you decide how sweet you want it), half cup-cup water, 2-3 teaspoons baking powder (part or all of an Israeli package), spices (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice etc.) to taste and enough flour to make a firm dough. I sometimes add sugar, organic unrefined, but it's not necessary. Mix ingredients well until you have a firm ball. Refrigeration helps firm the dough. Roll dough to desired thickness and line the bottom and sides of the cake pan which has been either oiled and floured or lined with baking paper. (In spite of what the cookbooks always say you do not need a spring-form pan.) Cut extra dough into cookies. Decorate cookies with nuts or dried fruit if you like. Pre-heat the oven if that's the way you do it; I don't always. Bake crust for about 10 minutes at 180 degrees C and the cookies for a little bit longer. The original recipe that I (sort of) followed said to let the crust cool before adding the filling, but I didn't and it's not necessary.
* This is a good opportunity to use cottage cheese left over from another Shavuot recipe.
Hadassa DeYoung, K'far Darom/Elon Moreh
YUM! i'm a pretty good cheesecake baker (if i do say so myself) but nothing (and i do mean nothing) like my mother in law. she will LOVE this recipe! thanks so much for sharing it!
ReplyDeleteYep, it sure does sound yummy! I'm a better cheesecake eater than baker!
ReplyDeleteShalom!
ReplyDeleteAlways glad to share (or receive) a recipe! My neighbors asked for so many of my recipes, which I had to translate into Hebrew from my English cookbooks with my penned in English changes, that I now have an almost complete Hebrew language cookbook. MM, what's your mother-in-law's secret, if she's willing to divulge?