Previously, I've posted a recipe for Ricotta Burnt Cheesecake and was so glad to have found a lower calorie, diet-friendly and yet equally yummy cheesecake.
And now, I found cottage cheese!
Do you know, 100g of cream cheese packs 342 kcals, while ricotta holds 174 kcal and cottage cheese has barely 100 kcals? And if they're all going to end up tasting equally good, why waste that 3x calories for the same enjoyment, right?
Goodbye, cream cheese. I won't see you to the door.
Anyway, let's get over with the ingredients, so we can get started!
For a (roughly) 20 x 10 cm loaf pan, you'll need:
For the filling:
200g cottage cheese
2 eggs, separated.
12g plain flour
75g baking sugar replacement
(you can replace with castor sugar in 1:1 ratio)
90g cooking (or heavy) cream
1 tbsp lemon juice
(you may add in grated peel of the whole lemon if you wish)
a pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp cream of tartar (optional, for meringue)
For the crust (optional):
70g (or more, if you like a thick crust) biscuit of your choice.
(I've used Britannia Good Day Cashew Cookies, but you can use digestives or even lotus biscuits)
1 tbsp butter (or more, depending on your biscuit)
recipe adapted from The Farmer's Wife Cookie Cookbook
First up, place all your cookies and 1 tbsp of soften (or melted) butter into a small food processor and process until everything has come together and the consistency resembles wet sand. If the crumbs are unable to hold its shape when pressed together, add a little more butter (or you may replace with lower-fat options like greek yogurt or unsweetened applesauce) until you get to a malleable texture. If you do not have a small food processor, feel free to do this step in a ziplock bag with a rolling pin instead.
Pour the buttered crumbs into your loaf pan, lined with parchment paper and pat it down firmly to form the crust base. Pop it into the oven to bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes for the base to somewhat firm up before removing the pan from the oven to cool down slightly while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
In a large clean bowl, add your separated egg whites and give it a quick whisk with your handheld mixer (or stand mixer, if you have one) to loosen it up. Using a clean spoon (no traces of oil here, as it'll prevent your whites from getting whisked up into meringue), take out a small spoonful (I'll say about half a tablespoonful will suffice) of the whites in a small dish and set everything aside. In another clean bowl, add in your cottage cheese and give it a good beating mixing with your handheld mixer (or balloon whisk, if you're up for spending some elbow grease) until the big curds have more of less broken down into tiny pieces. Then, add in the cream and continue mixing until the mixture has turned considerably smoother. It'll be impossible to beat them into cream cheese consistency, just make sure that there's no more huge lumps of cheese floating around in the mixture and you'll be fine. Then, add in the egg yolks, 1/4 of the sugar, lemon juice (and grated peel), vanilla extract and salt. Whisk until well combined before adding in the flour. Mix until there's no more dry pockets of flour and set the mixture aside. Wash your handheld mixer whisks CLEAN before proceeding.
Check if your crust base has cooled down before brushing on the 1/2 tbsp of beaten egg whites over the top of the base with a pastry brush lightly. Then, set the pan back into the oven to bake for another 5 minutes (or until you start smelling a nice buttery fragrance from the baked base). Remove from the oven and set aside to cool down. Turn the oven temperature down to 175 degrees Celsius.
Then, with CLEAN whisk attachments on your handheld mixer, whisk the remaining of your egg whites until frothy before adding in the cream of tartar (optional) and 1/3 of the remaining sugar. Continue whisking and adding rest of the sugar in another 2 additions, whisking thoroughly after each additions. Continue beating the egg whites until stiff peaks formed.
With a spatula, scoop 1/3 of the meringue and fold it into the cheese-yolk mixture. Then, pour the mixture back into the rest of the meringue and fold lightly (either with a spatula or you can also use a balloon whisk, but mix with a FOLDING technique) until just combined. Do not overmix, or you'll risk deflating your meringue. Pour the fluffy mixture into the loaf pan, over your pre-baked crust and bake at 175 degrees Celsius (reduce by 10 degrees if on fan) for around 25 minutes, or until the top of the torte is evenly browned, and the top springs back slightly when tapped lightly with a finger and the centre jiggles slightly when shaken. If you'll prefer a "fairer" cheesecake (I personally like how the charred/caramelised flavour of the browned top cuts into the otherwise cloying heaviness of a cheesecake) with a sinful creamy mouthfeel, feel free to lower your temperature to 160 degrees Celsius and bake the torte in a hot water bath for much longer (35 to 40 minutes)
After the torte is done, leave it in the oven, door closed, for another 15 minutes before leaving the oven door slightly ajar and allowing the torte to cool down in the oven for at least another 30 minutes. When the torte has cooled down to room temperature (or just slightly warm to touch), cover the top of the torte with clingwrap and pop the entire thing (parchment paper, loaf pan and all) into the fridge for at least 4 to 6 hours before serving.
The torte will puff up slightly while baking, and the top will shrink back to flatten back out when cooled. But it shouldn't crack, and should stay relatively flat (instead of ending up with a depression in the centre) if you've allowed the torte to cool down slowly in the warm oven.
I love how the centre of the torte remains slightly molten, yet not alarmingly runny. Due to brushing the top of the pre-baked crust with beaten egg whites, which formed a "waterproof" layer between the moist cheese filling and the baked crust, it allows the crust base to stay crisp instead of turning soggy. The overall texture of the torte, though definitely not fluffy like Japanese cotton cheesecake, is still a lot lighter and fluffier than a typical (cream cheese) baked cheesecake without beating the egg whites separately into meringue. Flavour wise, it's also much lighter (cottage cheese are supposed to be less sweet than cream cheese) and a lot less surfeiting.
I guess, I've nailed THE recipe to follow for a baked cheesecake for myself!
Till then,
Mia Foo
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