Country Cheesecake Food

COUNTRY CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Dough:Sift together flour, confectioners' sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Sift again. Transfer to the bowl of a food processor. Add butter; pulse until largest pieces are the size of peas. Add egg yolks and sour cream; pulse until dough just begins to come together. If dough is too dry, add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until dough comes together. Form into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm but pliable, at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees with rack in center. Lightly butter a 10-inch round springform pan. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough into a 15-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Fit dough into bottom and up side of pan. With a paring knife, trim dough to about 1/2 inch below the rim. Crimp edges with the tines of a fork. Freeze until firm, 10 minutes.
• Line dough with parchment. Fill with dried beans or pie weights; bake until crust is firm and dry, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove parchment and beans; let cool completely. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
• Filling:In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together eggs and egg white on medium speed until thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in granulated sugar to combine. Add farmer cheese, sour cream, lemon and orange zests, raisins, and vanilla; mix until fully combined. Transfer to cooled crust.
• Bake until set at edges but still slightly wobbly in center, 50 to 55 minutes (if cake is browning too quickly, tent edges of crust with foil). Transfer to wire rack; let cool completely. Refrigerate until cold, at least 8 hours; serve.

COUNTRY HAM CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Brush 9 inch diameter springform pan with 1 tbls melted butter.
• Finely grind crackers in processor.
• Mix cracker crumbs, parmesan and 5 tbls melted butter in a med bowl to blend. Reserve 1/2 cup of crumb mixture for topping; press remaining onto bottom and sides of prepared pan.
• Refrigerate while preparing filling.
• Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and eggs in a large bowl until smooth.
• Mix in remaining ingredients, pour filling onto crust.
• Sprinkle with remaining crumbs.
• Place cheesecake on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until filling no longer moves in center when gently shaken, about 2 hours.
• Cool 30 minutes.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.

COUNTRY CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• For dough, combine sifted flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
• With pastry blender, cut butter into flour mixture until coarse and crumbly.
• Beat egg yolks into sour cream then stir into flour mixture.
• Knead in the bowl until dough is well mixed and holds its shape.
• Refrigerate dough until easy to roll out, about 1 hour.
• On a floured surface, roll out to a 15 x 11 rectange to fit into a 13x9x2 pan.
• Fit dough into the pan so it comes about 2/3 of the way of the sides.
• For the filling: beat eggs and egg white at high speed with an electric mixer until thick.
• Gradually add sugar, beating at high speed until stiff, not dry peaks form.
• Press ricotta through a sieve and then fold into beaten egg mixture.
• Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly but gently.
• Turn filling into dough lined pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees until set, about 40 minutes.
• Cool completely before cutting in squares.
• Can be eaten plain or topping with your favorite cheesecake topping.

CHEESECAKE (COOK'S ILLUSTRATED)

Steps:

• Rich and Creamy.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Set a large tea kettle of water to boil.
• Use a 9-inch springform pan. Tear off a rectangular piece of 18-inch aluminum foil, and wrap it underneath the springform bottom and fold up along sides of pan, creating a water-tight barrier. It's a good idea to use a second piece of foil to ensure water tightness.
• Inside the pan, brush bottom and sides with melted butter. Drop in crumbs, and tilt the pan around to coat bottom and sides with crumbs evenly.
• Grate teaspoon of zest off lemon. Place zest and 1/4 cup sugar in food processor and pulse until sugar turns slightly yellow, mixing its oils with sugar. If zest isn't available, just put 2 teaspoons of lemon juice in batter.
• Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and zest-sugar to cheese and beat about 3 minutes on low speed.
• Add eggs one at a time and beat until incorporated. Add vanilla extract, mix. Add heavy cream, mix. Add sour cream, mix. I usually add an optional pinch of salt. After ensuring all ingredients are mixed evenly and thoroughly, pour mixture into the prepared pan.
• Place springform pan into a roasting pan. (A disposable aluminum one works just fine.).
• Place roasting pan on middle rack in oven, securely, and pour enough boiling water to go half way up side of springform.
• Bake for 55-60 minutes. Doing the jiggle test: gently shaking the springform pan, the outside of cake will appear firm but the center will jiggle like Jell-O, and the top will not look browned, thus giving the appearance that it is underdone. But this is what you want because the hot cheesecake will continue to cook.
• Turn off oven. Use a wooden spoon to open keep the oven door ajar a couple inches in order to cool. Leave cheesecake in oven for an hour.
• Remove springform pan from roasting pan, place on rack on counter to cool to room temperature for 2-4 hours.
• Using dental floss, cut even serving slices in the cheesecake before refrigeration. The floss ensures crisp edges and doesn't stick like a knife.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight. (It always tastes better the next day.).
• The cheesecake can be refrigerated for up to 4 days, but it won't last that long--trust me.
• Light and Airy.
• Follow the above recipe, but separate the eggs. Add only yolks when instructed to add eggs. After adding creams, beat egg whites until stiff, fold into batter, and follow the rest of the instructions. Bake 45-50 minutes.
• Firm and Dense.
• Follow the above recipe, but don't use a water bath. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Bake cheesecake at 500 F for 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 200 degrees F, and prop oven door open about 12 inches with a wooden spoon for about a minute, until temperature reduces in oven. Close oven door and bake approximately 60 minutes, until the cake jiggles in the center as above. Follow the same cooling instructions.