Golden Raisin Cheesecake Food

GOLDEN RAISIN CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch springform pan with olive oil, and dust with zwieback crumbs.
• In a large bowl, combine remaining zwieback crumbs, 1/4 cup white sugar, chopped almonds, and olive oil. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 7 minutes; set aside to cool.
• Process cottage cheese in food processor until smooth, or press through a fine sieve. In a mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese, 1/2 cup white sugar, flour, salt, egg yolks, sour cream, lemon peel, and lemon juice. Beat at medium speed, scraping the bowl often, until smooth and well blended.
• In a clean mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup white sugar, and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Fold into the cheese mixture. Fold in the raisins. Spread batter evenly into the crust.
• Bake in preheated oven until center is set, about 90 minutes. Cool in the pan. Chill cheesecake for at least 4 hours or overnight.

RAISIN CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Put all the raisins in a small bowl, and pour hot water over them. Set the bowl aside.
• Heat 1/4 cup white sugar with 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Boil the mixture until the bubbles rise to the surface in a random pattern. This indicates that the water has nearly evaporated, and that the sugar is beginning to cook. With a small spoon, drop a bit of the sugar into a bowl filled with ice water. If the sugar dissolves immediately, continue cooking the sugar mixture. Remove from heat when the sugar dropped into the water can be rolled between your fingers into a ball.
• Begin beating the egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed. Pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl in a thin, steady stream. When all the sugar has been incorporated, decrease mixer speed to medium. Continue beating until the egg whites are glossy, have formed stiff peaks, and have cooled to room temperature--about 10 minutes. Increase the speed to high, and beat the meringue for 1 minute more.
• Puree the yogurt, cream cheese, cottage cheese, vanilla extract, and 1/4 cup white sugar in a food processor or blender. Scrape the cheese mixture into a large bowl.
• Pour the milk into a small saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over the milk. Let it stand until the gelatin softens, about 5 minutes. Heat the milk over a medium heat, stirring until the gelatin is dissolved. Stir the milk into the cheese mixture. Mix about 1/3 of the meringue into the cheese mixture to lighten it. Gently fold in the rest of the meringue.
• Line an 8 inch cake pan with plastic wrap. Drain the raisins, and scatter them in the bottom of the pan. Then pour the cheesecake batter into the lined pan. Chill for 4 hours. To turn out the cheesecake, invert a serving plate on top of the pan. Turn both over together. Lift away the pan, peel off the plastic wrap, and slice for serving.

RICOTTA RAISIN CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl, mix the ingredients together. Thickly butter a 9 or 10-inch springform pan and press the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Refrigerate, uncovered, while you make the filling.
• Filling: Filling: In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or using a hand mixer), mix the ricotta, sour cream, egg yolks, and flour until smooth (the mixture will remain a bit grainy from the ricotta). Add the sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla and blend until creamy. Fold in the raisins.
• In a clean dry bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold them into the filling mixture. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the top of the cake is set and dry to the touch, though still a bit soft in the center, 70 to 80 minutes. It should "shimmy" a bit when you shake the pan; it will firm up more as it cools. Let cool in the pan. The cake will deflate a bit as it cools. Cover and refrigerate the cake at least 2 hours. (Or refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 48 hours.) Remove the sides of the pan and serve cold.

INDULGENT RAISIN AND KAHLUA CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180°C (300°F ) or 160°C (320°F ) if fan forced.
• Combine the golden raisins and the half cup of Kahlua in a small bowl. Cover in clingwrap. The raisins will absorb most of the liqueur. Set aside.
• Grease and line the base and sides of a 22cm (8 2/3 inches) round springform round tin. A smaller tin will result in a higher cheesecake with a thicker base. A larger tin will have a very fine base and not be as tall.
• Combine all of the ingredients for the base in a bowl. Mix with a spoon until thoroughly combined.
• Press the base mixture into the base of the prepared cake tin (do not press the mixture up the sides). Press down firmly.
• Bake the base in a preheated oven 10 minutes. The base should not be a golden cover. Remove from oven- cool and put aside, or refrigerate until required.
• In a small bowl thoroughly mix the boiling water and the gelatine. Stir until the gelatine dissolves. Set aside.
• Beat the cream cheese with the brown sugar, until smooth and creamy. Best to use electric beaters for this step.
• Add the gelatine mixture, the melted chocolate and any of the Kahlua that you can drain from the soaking raisins, to the cream cheese mixture. Beat well to combine.
• In a separate bowl, beat the 300mls of cream until soft peaks form.
• Fold firstly the beaten cream into the cream cheese mixture. Then lightly fold in the soaked golden raisins.
• Pour the cheese mixture over the base in the springform tin. Level and smooth over the top of the cheesecake using a spoon. Refrigerate for several hours, or overnight.
• For the topping. Whip the remaining 300mls cream with the tablespoon of Kahlua, until thick.
• Spread the cream over the cooled cheesecake. Sprinkle with chocolate and decorate the edges of the cheesecake with the additional pecans.

CREAM CHEESE PIE WITH GOLDEN RAISINS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter 10-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Mix crumbs and melted butter in small bowl. Press crumb mixture evenly over bottom and up sides (but not onto rim) of prepared dish. Refrigerate while preparing filling.
• Blend cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar and flour in processor until smooth. Add vanilla. Gradually pour in milk and process until smooth, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Add eggs; process until blended. Transfer batter to prepared crust. Mix remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with cinnamon in small bowl; sprinkle over filling. Carefully place raisins atop filling (some may sink).
• Bake pie until set in center, about 1 hour. Transfer to rack and cool 1 hour. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, about 2 hours; cover and chill overnight.