Cream Cheese Cake Recipe

As I was growing up no one in my family ever attempted a cream cheese cake recipe. Today I wonder why. I believe mum hesitated because of some of the things involved in some German cheese cake recipes; draining quark, cooking the cheese filling on the stove, resting time after baking etc. It all made it all sound somehow lengthy, complex and daunting and the whole baking process was not easy or straight forward.

Bake and enjoy! Our favourite way! 

A sweet craving usually lures us into the kitchen to do some baking. Often we then indulge in fresh baking straight out of the oven.

Using cream cheese makes for a light, versatile and not to sweet cake. You can prepare it plain with raisins, or with a hint of vanilla or lemon and a seasonal fruit topping. In our example we puréed fresh feijoas. Though one condition stays the same even with this simple recipe the cake is best enjoyed after it has cooled for a bit in the fridge. Sometimes it’s difficult to wait that long.

Cream cheese cake recipe ingredients:

Base:

• 1 ½ cups of flour, spelt
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 tablespoon of milk

Cream cheese cake filling:

• 2 eggs, separated into egg yolk and egg white
• ½ cup of sugar
• 500g of cream cheese, softened at room temperature
• ½ cup of cream
• ½ lemon, juiced
• 3 tablespoons of corn flour (corn starch)

Topping:

• 400ml of feijoa purée
  
• 2 teaspoons of gelatin powder

Kitchen utensils

• 2 bowls
• 1 hand mixer
• 1 spring form
• hand blender
  

Step by step method:

Prepare the filling:

1. Separate the egg yolks from egg whites and place them into two different mixing bowls. Use the hand-mixer to mix the egg whites stiff.
2. Mix the egg yolks with the sugar until it has a foamy yellowish white consistency. Mix the softened cream cheese, the 200ml of cream, the juice of half a lemon and the three tablespoons of corn flour under. The mixture should have a smooth consistency.
3. Lastly fold the stiff egg whites under with a spoon or spatula and pour it onto the prepared base in the cake form. It is a good idea to pile the mixture higher to the middle. Cheesecake tends to rise quite a bit during the baking process and fall into itself during the cooling time.
4. Place the cake into the preheated oven and bake at 180C° for 40 minutes. Turn the oven off and let it rest for at least another ten minutes with the oven closed.
5. In the mean time prepare the fruit topping. In our example we used 400ml of feijoa puree. We heated it with 2 teaspoons of powdered gelatin and distributed it on top of the cream cheese cake. Let it cool down completely.  I like this cake best cold and straight out of the fridge.

Enjoy!

Let us know how your cream cheese cake turned out and what seasonal fruit topping you like best!

For more ideas, please visit Food to Grow on Pinterest.

All recipes have been tried and tasted by me and my family.

Copyright © 2011-2023 Mariam Cissé. All rights reserved.