076. Creamy cheesecake (English recipe)

Cheesecake is a dish of European and American cuisine: a cheese-based dessert ranging from a cottage-cheese bake to a soufflé-like pastry. The first cheesecakes appeared in Ancient Greece.

In Britain a cheesecake is an unbaked cold dessert that usually consists of a base — crushed biscuits mixed with butter and pressed into a thick disc — and a layer of filling: a mixture of milk, sugar, cheese, cream and sometimes gelatine.
That's the one I made. Photos and recipe under the cut.

As the name suggests, cheese is the heart of a cheesecake. Usually Philadelphia or mascarpone is used — apparently because Britain has no other cream cheeses. In Russia the cheeses "Omichka" and "Viola" make an excellent substitute for mascarpone. You can also use low-fat cottage cheese if you like.

Cooking time ≈ 6 hours.

Ingredients:

• 300 g biscuits (the crumbly kind — I used "Yubileynoye")
• 100–150 g butter
• 500 g cream cheese (I used "Omichka")
• 200 ml 30–35% cream
• 150 g sugar (if you also took "Omichka", use less sugar — the cheese is very sweet as it is)
• 20 g gelatine

First pour 100 ml of cold boiled water over the gelatine and leave it, without stirring, for an hour. After the hour bring the gelatine to the boil and cool it. While it cools, crush the biscuits in a blender or put them through a mincer.

Melt the butter.

Mix the biscuits with the butter into a crumbly mass.

Put the biscuit-and-butter mixture into a tin, press it down firmly and put it in the fridge while you make the filling.

Whip the cream with the sugar. Add the cream cheese. Mix well or whip again. Add the gelatine to the mixture and mix well once more.

Spread the mixture over the biscuit base, smooth it and put in the fridge for 3–4 hours.

Serve cold.

Bon appétit!

p.S

Despite the substantial saving (500 g of mascarpone — 500 roubles, 500 g of "Omichka" — 50 roubles), the taste of "Omichka" is noticeable after all. If you don't like that cheese, better take "Viola" or low-fat cottage cheese.

p.p.S

A night in the fridge did the cheesecake good: the distinct "Omichka" taste disappeared and the filling became a little firmer. It is slightly cloying, though — with sweet cheeses you should use less sugar — but on the whole very tasty indeed :).

Next time I'll probably try some other cheese.