Cranberry Cheesecake: A very late post

I hope you're looking forward to summer! What is the one aspect of summer that you're most looking forward to? Maybe you like the long hours of daylight, the endless blue skies, all the outdoor activities, family gatherings and holidays, the beach, or glorious sunsets? Or perhaps you like watching the magnificent summer thunderstorms? I'm mostly looking forward to enjoying those cool, sweet treats that the hot sun makes me crave. Here is a recipe for a no-bake cheesecake filling that I made last year around this time. I'd promised to post about it when I made those mung bean potato biscuits (remember?) but never got around to writing the post. Well, here it is, a year late, but still a recipe to make.

The Recipe (makes two 8" tarts):

Pie crusts (follow recipe here)

Filling:

• 300 mL fat free, plain greek yogurt
• 400 mL light, plain cream cheese 
• 3/4 cup frozen cranberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp milk
• 2 tsp gelatin (powder)
• some water

Mix together yogurt, cream cheese, and milk until a smooth mixture forms. It's best to let the cream cheese come to room temperature so it softens before blending. You can also soften the cream cheese in  the microwave using the defrost setting. 

Melt and cook frozen cranberries in a pan. Pour some water on the bottom of the pan until the bottom is covered with a layer of water. Cook until cranberries pop and soften. Pour into blender and blend until an even mixture forms. Strain to remove large pieces of skin and seed. Return to pan, add sugar, stir to dissolve, and cook until thickened, like a syrup. Take off heat and stir in gelatin to dissolve. Add to cream cheese and yogurt mixture and stir to combine. Pour into prepared pie tins, and place in the refrigerator to set for at least 4 hours before serving. 

Note: you can set aside some cream cheese and yogurt mixture to decorate the top if you like. 

This is the yogurt I used. I also added the jam to the rest of the cranberry puree (it's only a small amount). 

Frozen cranberries.

Mung bean potato biscuits baked into a tart crust

Adding the filling

Swirls for decoration

You can also make it one colour. Texture after setting. 

White chocolate green tea truffle cheesecakes

I decided to try a new recipe this weekend by combining green tea and white chocolate into a cheesecake. The idea was to use white chocolate to sweeten and add richness to the regular green tea cheesecake. It resulted in a truffle-like texture and a delicious sweet-tart taste due to the combination of white chocolate and green tea powder. I used mini-muffin tins to portion these cheesecakes.

The recipe: The crust: I combine 1/4 cup dark buckwheat flour, 1/2 cup barley flour, 3 tbsp melted butter, 1/8 tsp salt, 1 tbsp sugar in a bowl and divide and press into the bottom of 24 mini-muffin tins. These bake in a 300 F oven for 10 minutes and allow to cool. The cheesecake: I combine 3/4 cup plain, light cream cheese with 1/2 cup plain, fat-free greek yogurt in a bowl. Then I stir in 3 oz melted white baking chocolate, 1 tsp green tea powder, and 1 tsp cornstarch. Finally, I add 1/2 cup liquid egg, and 1 tsp vanilla extract if desired. Once the cheesecake batter is thoroughly mixed, I divide it into the 24 mini-muffin tins and bake in a 300 F oven for 12-15 minutes. Once they cool for 10 minutes or so, they can be gently eased out of the muffin tins and and chilled for a few hours before serving. Yum!

Note: The base to these cheesecakes can be substituted with the base for the purple cheesecake or a traditional graham cracker cheesecake base if preferred.