How To Make Yogurt Cheese II

The most amazing thing is making cheese. I never thought I would ever try it. When I had goats, the thought of goat milk anything was too disgusting to comprehend. Now, I regret not having a goat. I am also looking for a source of milk, which will be hard, since it's winter and people are drying up their does. Anyway, here are some pictures of the cheesecake I made using mostly yogurt I made and surprisingly it turned out pretty good, I'll post the recipe when I'm done.
Last night I had to make a mad dash to Walmart to get cheesecloth, the cheesecloth I found would not hold a butterfly in place, much less cheese, so I improvised and found some flower sack dish towels, 6 for $5. This is what the yogurt looks like after putting it in the strainer with the cloth.

I doubled them up and poured the yogurt into the strainer, this time I trebled the cloth. I also bought a new strainer, because my jelly colander did not have it's legs any more, I wish I knew what happened to them, another thing you wish you had after throwing it out.

You can see after about ten hours the cheese is starting to form. It has a pull on the cloth and has sunk about an inch. It's not done yet, but it's well on it's way. I can't wait to try flavoring it and using it on bagels. A few more hours and it should be ready to refrigerate and serve. There is quite a bit of loss of cheese, but that can't be helped. So far there have been about two cups of whey drain off.

The whey looks a bit watery, but you can see the fat globules still in the liquid. this can be pulled with lemon juice, but I think I'll give it to the cats again. I know I must have one cat which isn't a freak. I figured out that my cats are not finicky, but are royalty waiting for the food tester to tell them it's safe to eat. Handful will not eat anything that hasn't been on someones plate unless it comes from a can. She would live happily as an inside cat if I'd let her. She was named Handful because she fit in the palm of my hand for over 8 months. I had to bottle feed her, because she was so small. She sure has spunk, for one so little, even at almost two, she is the size of a six month old kitten.

The cheesecake turned out pretty good, it cooked well and very few cracks. I was surprised at how well it did. The last two cheesecakes I made flopped, because I misread the recipe and added 8 oz more cream cheese than the recipe and did not compromise with the cooking temp or time. Both times the cake slid off the plate, the cats really love cheesecake, that's for sure. After an hour in the oven and three in the fridge, this is what my cheesecake looks like, I added a bit of whipped cream around the edges to make it more aesthetically pleasing.


Here it is all cut up, it was lovely and cut really well. It did not break or anything. With as runny as the batter was, I was surprised when it held up as well as it did. Now to the recipe. I used the "Creamy Citrus Cheesecake" recipe and pretty much doubled the recipe for a 10 in spring form pan.

I made yogurt cheese from a half gallon of home made yogurt. It took 24 hours to get cream cheese consistency.

Modified Creamy Citrus Cheesecake
Ingredients:

2 packages of cinnamon graham crackers crushed (not sure how many that is, but two of those little wrapped plastic packages from the box)
4 T margarine, melted
6 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
6 teaspoon vanilla, divided
1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese softened
yogurt cheese from half gallon of yogurt, dripped for 24 hours (estimation of 3 cups)
1 cup plain, lemon, or vanilla yogurt, divided
4 T powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325* F.


2. In a bowl combine graham cracker crumbs and margarine, press into bottom of 10 in spring form pan, bake 6 minutes, chill.


3. In blender, combine eggs, granulated sugar, 4 tsp vanilla, and juice, cut cream cheese into chunks, add to mixture and process until smooth, slightly pulse in yogurt cheese. (you don't want to chop up the cheese too fine)


4. Pour into crust.


5. Bake at 325* for 70-80 minutes or until set.


6. Combine remaining yogurt, vanilla, and powdered sugar, spread over hot cheesecake,


7. Loosen side of pan, cool on wire rack, chill before serving.

Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Roasted Rosemary Pears

A lovely pear cheesecake with a hint of goat cheese.

Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Roasted Rosemary Pears

Serves 12

Ingredients:

For the graham cracker crust:
32 each honey graham sticks
1/2 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, cut into pieces
3 (4-ounce) packages fresh goat cheese, crumbled
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs

For the roasted pears:
6 ripe but firm pears
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons maple syrup
1 cup pear juice, divided
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, crushed
2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water

Make the crust:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Process graham sticks in a food processor until almost ground to a powder.
3. Add almonds and sugar and process until almonds are chopped finely.
4. Transfer crumb mixture to a medium-sized mixing bowl and pour in butter.
5. Stir until crumbs are thoroughly moistened.
6. Press crumb mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan.
7. Place pan on a baking sheet and bake until crust is golden brown and firm, about 10 minutes.
   

Make the cheesecake:

1. Reduce oven heat to 325°F.
2. Place cream cheese, goat cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
3. With an electric hand mixer, beat until just smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed.
4. In two or three additions, beat in sugar until mixture is creamy.
5. Add eggs, one at a time, beating and scraping down sides of the bowl after each addition.
6. Continue to beat until mixture is very smooth.
7. Pour batter into prepared crust.
8. Bake until edges of cheesecake look set and the center is still soft and slightly jiggly, 50 to 60 minutes.
9. Place pan on a rack to cool completely in the pan.
10. Then cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

For Pears:

1. Increase oven temperature to 400°F.
2. Halve pears.
3. Scoop out core with a spoon or melon baller.
4. Put butter, lemon juice, a tablespoon of maple syrup and 1/4 cup of pear juice in a medium baking dish.
5. Bake for a minute or two, just until butter melts.
6. Swirl to mix ingredients, then place pears, cut side down, in dish along with rosemary sprigs.
7. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn pears and baste with cooking liquid.
8. Continue to bake another 5 minutes until pears are tender.
9. Transfer pears to a plate to cool.
10. Place remaining pear juice and maple syrup in a small saucepan.
11. Strain juices from baking dish into saucepan.
12. Bring mixture to a boil.
13. Stir in cornstarch-water mixture and cook, stirring, until mixture thickens slightly, about a minute.
14. Transfer pear sauce to a small bowl to cool.
15. When cheesecake has thoroughly chilled, unmold from pan.
16. Carefully cut into slices with a warm knife (dip knife in hot water and wipe dry).
17. Stir cooled sauce with a whisk and serve sauce on the side with a pear half.

How To Make Yogurt Cheese

Last night, I decided to make some yogurt to see if I could do it. This is how I did it. I am cheap so I wanted to see if I could do it without a bunch of fancy gadgets and keep it as close to the old time ways as possible. The tool I used were as follows, a stainless steel mixing bowl, a huge stock pot I got at a discount store, which cost about $5 a few years ago, a candy thermometer, and a wire whisk. I found some half gallon jars at OSH, 6 for $9, the most expensive of all the items. I had an old 10 gallon aquarium with a heater on the bottom glass. That's it, no fancy gadgets.

I took a little less than a gallon of just expired store bought whole milk, I figured since we're souring the milk anyway, a day off the expiration wouldn't make much of a difference, and would probably help the whole process. I added enough half and half to make a gallon, three quarts of whipping cream, and an 8 oz cup of yogurt. I heated all, except the yogurt, in what could pass as a poor man's double boiler (a stainless steel mixing bowl set inside a huge stock pot full of water.) The bowl just floated in the water perfectly, it didn't quite sit, but wasn't going to tip either. One of my back country cookbooks said to heat it just to boiling, so as soon as I saw bubbles along the sides of the bowl, the fire went off. Just to check and see if I was within parameters, I checked the temp. It heated it all up to about 160* F, before cutting off the heat. I let it sit for a while, it gradually heated up a bit more. With all the cream in the milk, it had a lovely buttery smell as it started to heat up. I noticed, if I quit stirring, for any length of time, it would get a film on the top, so I quickly stirred that back into the milk mixture.

I took the bowl out of the boiling water, and placed it in a bowl of cold water, I did this about four times before the temp got to about 105* which was when I added the yogurt and mixed it all in. I then dipped into the milk mixture and filled three of the half gallon jars, which I had washed well. The directions called for complete sanitation, but I know that a lot of old timers do not bleach their utensils, so I just made sure everything was clean and since everything was new, I just washed everything well. I wanted to try to make it as close to the old way as possible. Here is where I deviated from the old cook stove method, I had put them on the heat register, but I wasn't sure if it would be too hot, so, I placed the jars in the aquarium full of warm water and plugged in the heater. The temp did not go below 86*F as far as I can tell all night. This morning, I had what looked like a creamy sludge which smelled somewhat like yogurt. My daughter played guinea pig, I put a bit in a bowl and put a bit of jelly in it and honey for a sweetener, she gave it a thumbs up. It's not as sour as yogurt should be, I think this may be because of all the cream I added. DH said it's not thick enough, so I put it on the heat register for a few hours to sour up some and hopefully thicken a little more.

*UPDATE: I think I may have put it on the heater for too long, because it started to separate. I stirred it back together and it's now cooling in the fridge.*

Now yogurt cheese is supposed to be easy, which since I have a gallon and a half of yogurt to experiment with, I'm going to try. I have a colander used to make jellies and juices, so I'm going to line it with coffee filters and let it drain. The outcome should be something close to cream cheese. From what I've read, the procedure is to just pour the yogurt in the lined colander and let it sit in the fridge over a bowl over night, the whey will drip out making a very soft cheese.

January, 6th: The picture is of what cheese from half a gallon of yogurt looks like. It was drained for 24 hours in some flower sack towels. The cheesecloth, even when quadrupled, wasn't thick enough. Even with doubling of the flower sack I lost a lot of cheese into the whey, until I lined the colander with coffee filters also. It made about 3/4 of the weight, by what the books say it should. Next time I make cheese, it won't have so much cream in it. It probably could have drained for a lot longer, because the sides of the cloth had cheese, the middle of the glob was still runny. I think there is way too much fat in it since the top of my mouth is slimy. My neighbor's boy liked it and said it tasted like cream cheese mixed with sour cream. I am going to try it again with another half gallon of yogurt, this time I'll take photos.

On a side note, the whey was too rich for my cats, they liked it a little, but not enough to scarf it. Ed, however, gave it two paws up, and Handful decided to investigate what was under the cloth, Tommy and Stubby both ran from invading feet, so something must of been worth having, just not the whey. I am now baking a cheesecake with the cheese. I hope it's ok, it seemed a bit runny when I poured it in the pan.

I found this recipe for yogurt cheese cheesecake, so we'll try it also, the original recipe did not call for any sort of crust, but I like graham cracker crust, so I'm going to add it to the recipe. If you're a purist, don't put it in a crust.

LEMON CHEESECAKE

8 servings

2 cups nonfat yogurt cheese

7 tablespoons sugar (or to taste)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

4 egg whites, lightly beaten (or 1 egg and 2 whites)

1 lemon, juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel, or 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract

1. 
   
   Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 7-inch spring form or 8-inch pie pan. (here is where you make the crust)


2. 
   
   Combine yogurt cheese, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and vanilla, mixing gently with a fork or wire whisk until well bended.


3. 
   
   Stir in the eggs.


4. 
   
   Pour into prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.


5. 
   
   Bake until the center is set, 20 to 25 minutes (pie pan) or 55 minutes (spring form).


6. 
   
   Cool slightly and refrigerate, uncovered, for 24 hours.

Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake

A lovely Blueberry cheesecake with the filling inside the cake. I bet it could be done with any pie filling, yum!

Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake

Ingredients:

CRUST
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted

FILLING
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (21 ounce) can blueberry pie filling

FOR THE CRUST:

1. Spray a 9-inch spring form pan generously with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Mix the graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a small bowl.
3. Add the melted butter and stir until crumbs are evenly moistened.
4. Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly over bottom and slightly up sides of pan.
5. Refrigerate for one hour to set the crust.
6. When ready to prepare the filling, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

FOR THE FILLING:

1. Beat cream cheese in bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment and at medium speed for two to three minutes or until smooth, being sure to scrape sides of bowl with rubber spatula.
2. Decrease speed to low and gradually add sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, until all sugar is incorporated into batter.
3. Return mixer speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time, until just mixed.
4. Add the vanilla and finish beating, being sure to scrape down sides of bowl one last time.
5. Place a pan of hot tap water on lower rack of oven just under the middle rack where the cheesecake will bake.
6. Pour half of the cheesecake batter evenly over bottom of prepared crust.
7. Carefully spread half the blueberry filling in a ring pattern over batter to within an inch of edge of pan.
8. Pour remaining cheesecake batter over blueberries and carefully spread to edges of pan.
9. Place cheesecake on middle rack of oven above the pan of water and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until top of cake no longer looks wet or shiny and a 1-inch area in center jiggles slightly when shaken gently.
10. Remove from oven and allow to cool for two hours or until room temperature.
11. Cover the cheesecake with foil and chill overnight.
12. Two hours before you plan to serve, take cake out of refrigerator and gently remove the sides of the pan.
13. Place a large flat plate on top of cake and carefully turn upside down.
14. Very slowly and carefully remove bottom of pan from cake.
15. Place a serving platter on bottom of cake and turn cake right side up again.
16. Top the cheesecake with the remaining blueberry pie filling, cover, and return to refrigerator until ready to serve.
17. Slice the cheesecake with a thin-bladed knife, wiping blade clean between slices with a warm damp cloth.
18. Best served within 24 to 48 hours of baking.

Mandarin Orange Cheesecake

Mandarin Orange Cheesecake


Cake
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg

Cream Cheese Layer
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup boiling water
1 envelope Dream Whip
1/2 cup low-fat milk
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon orange extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
5 drops yellow food coloring
1 drop red food coloring


Topping
2 (15 ounce) cans mandarin oranges (in light syrup)
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin


Nut Crust
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts (2.25 oz bag)


Icing
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/8 teaspoon vanilla

1. To make cake layer, combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
2. Cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a medium bowl.
3. Add dry ingredients to the butter and mix well.
4. Mix in milk, vanilla and 1 egg.
5. Pour into a well-greased 9" springform pan (or line it with parchment paper).
6. Slam pan down on the counter a few times to even out the batter.
7. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 15 minutes or until the cake is light brown on top.
8. For the cream cheese layer, combine gelatin with 3/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl.
9. Add boiling water and stir until gelatin is dissolved.
10. Set this aside.
11. Prepare Dream Whip by whipping together 1 envelope of Dream Whip and 1/2 cup milk with an electric mixer in another medium bowl.
12. Whip it good until the topping makes stiff peaks.
13. In another bowl, whip the cream cheese with vanilla, orange extract, lemon juice and food coloring in a large bowl until smooth.
14. Slowly add the gelatin mixture while beating.
15. Add half (about 1 cup) of the Dream Whip to the cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth.
16. Pour this mixture over the cake layer in the springform pan.
17. Chill for 2 hours or until firm.
18. Pour all liquid except 1/2 cup from the cans of mandarin oranges wedges.
19. Heat the 1/2 cup liquid in the microwave on high for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until hot.
20. Dissolve 1 tsp unflavored gelatin in the liquid.
21. Combine liquid with orange wedges and pour over the top of the firmed-up cheesecake that's still in the springform pan.
22. Chill the cake for at least 2 more hours.
23. For the crunchy nut crust, combine 1 Tbs water with 2 Tbs sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat.
24. When sugar is dissolved and liquid begins to boil, add the hazelnuts and stir until nuts are well coated.
25. Stir often until the water has cooked off, then continue to stir until the sugar begins to caramelize and turn light brown. Be careful not to burn the nuts. The nuts are done when they are light brown and glazed with candied sugar.
26. Pour the nuts onto a plate and let them cool completely.
27. When the candied nuts are cool, chop them up in a food processor until they are the consistency of crumbs.
28. Make the icing by combining shortening with powdered sugar, milk and vanilla.
29. When mandarin orange gelatin has firmed up on top of the cake, remove the cake from the springform pan.
30. Use a spatula to spread the icing around the edge of the cake.
31. Press the hazelnut crumbs onto the icing around the edge of the cake (you've got more than enough hazelnut crumbs and much of it will fall off as you press it on the sides).
32. Chill the cake for at least another hour before serving.
    
    

Best Chocolate Cheesecake

The recipe says 'Best Chocolate Cheesecake,' we'll see if it lives up to it's name.

Best Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa

Filling:
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter or margarine

Topping:
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1-2 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen
semisweet chocolate, shaved

Crust:

1. Melt butter in saucepan.
2. Stir in crumbs, sugar and cocoa.
3. Mix well.
4. Press into bottom and 3/4 way up sides of ungreased 10 inch springform pan.
5. Do not bake.
   

Filling:

1. Beat cream cheese and sugar until blended.
2. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.
3. Mix in sour cream.
4. Combine chocolate chips and butter in saucepan over low heat until melted.
5. Stir often.
6. Add chocolate to cheese mixture.
7. Pour into prepared pan.
8. Bake in 325 degree oven for about 90 minutes until center is firm.
9. Cool at room temperature, then chill.
10. Top with whipped cream, raspberries and shaved chocolate.
    
    
    
    

Blue Ribbon Creamy Cheesecake

Happy New Year!

A lovely basic cheesecake worthy of any Blue Ribbon.

Blue Ribbon Creamy Cheesecake
Ingredients:
12 to 14 graham crackers, crushed
1/2 cup butter, melted

4 package(3 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup + 3-1/2 T sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1 cup sour cream
Directions:

1. Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter, mixing well.
2. Press into pie pan to form crust.
3. Combine cream cheese, eggs, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla and lemon juice in bowl, mixing well.
4. Pour into prepared crust.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.
6. Cool for 10 minutes.
7. Mix sour cream, 3-1/2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla in bowl.
8. Spread evenly over top.
9. Bake for 10 minutes longer.
10. Chill for 5 hours.