Light New York Cheesecake

Recently our church hosted a Dine n Dash event, where you go to someone's house for appetizers, someone else's for dinner and yet some else's for dessert.  Your hosts don't know who to expect, just how many, and you meet different people at each place.  It's quite fun and a great way to visit with people you may not necessarily talk to on a regular basis.  This year we hosted dessert and our guests were impressed that I made this cheesecake from scratch.  Then, as my cousin T was celebrating her birthday the next day, another friend and I surprised her and I brought the left overs to share and they have been consistently asking for the recipe.  As I promised I would add it when my blog was up to date, I am now fulfilling that promise.  It was profiled on "The Shopping Bags" and on the episode the ladies had a full fat and this lower fat cheesecake to see if the professional chef could tell the difference and he liked this one better.  I didn't get the cookbook, but found the recipe here.  I will include the recipe below as well, as I changed the directions somewhat and clarified the ingredient amounts.  If you give it a try, please leave a comment and let me know how you liked it.

Light New York Cheesecake

Serves 12

Crust:

1 1/4c graham cracker crumbs (approx 9 whole crackers, broken and processed to fine crumbs)

1/4c butter, melted

1T sugar

Filling:

1lb (~2c) 1% cottage cheese

1lb (2x250g) light cream cheese at room temperature

8oz low fat yogurt cheese (recipe below) or some stores carry it

1 1/2c sugar

1/4t salt

1/2-1t grated lemon zest (opt)

1T vanilla extract

3 large eggs at room temperature

Line a medium bowl with a clean dish towel on several layers of paper towels.  Spoon the cottage cheese into the bowl and let drain for 30 min.

Put oven rack at the middle position and heat oven to 325*.  Grease a 8 or 9" spring form pan.  In a medium bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar until combined.  Press into prepared pan bottom.  Bake in preheated oven 10-15 min until crust begins to brown.  Cool on wire rack.  Increase oven to 500*.

Process the drained cottage cheese in a food processor, blender or in a large bowl with an immersion blender until smooth and no visible lumps remain, about 1 min, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Add the cream cheese and yogurt cheese and continue to process until smooth, 1-2 min, scraping down the sides as needed.  I needed to process in a large bowl with my immersion blender as it didn't all fit in my blender.

Add the sugar, salt, lemon zest and vanilla and continue to process until smooth, about 1 min, scraping down the sides as needed.  While blending, add the eggs, one at a time, and continue to process until smooth.  Note: To prevent cracks, you should not over process but treat it like a custard as opposed to a cake.

Set the pan on a rimmed baking sheet and pour the cheese mixture onto the cooled crust.

Bake for 10 min.  Without opening the oven door, reduce the oven to 200* and continue to bake until an inserted instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the cheesecake reads 150*, about 1 1/2hours.  (Or until a toothpick comes out slightly moist, or until sides are brown and firm and middle is slightly jiggly).  Really, nothing works better then a thermometer.  I had to cook my cake and extra 20-30 minutes to finally get to 150*

Transfer cake to a  wire rack and run a paring knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it.  Cook the cake at room temperature until barely warm, about 2 1/2 - 3 hours, running a paring knife around the edge to loosen the cake every hour or so.  (not sure if this is completely necessary if you have a non-stick pan as I didn't do it and it was fine).

Wrap the pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hours.  Unmold the cake and blot any excess moisture from the top of the cake with paper towels.  Let the cheesecake stand at room temperature for about 30 min before slicing.

Yogurt Cheese:

Fine mesh strainer

3 paper coffee filters

16oz plain low-fat yogurt (not vanilla)

Line a fine mesh strainer set over a deep container with 3 paper coffee filters (or a double layer of cheesecloth).  Spoon the yogurt into the lined strainer; cover and refrigerate.  After 10-12 hours, about 1 cup of the liquid will have drained off the yogurt and the yogurt will have a creamy, cream cheese-like consistency.  Transfer the yogurt to a covered container and refrigerate.  It will keep for about a week.