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. 

Potato and mung bean biscuits

Toasted peeled mung beans

I recently watched a video clip of someone rubbing mashed potatoes into a bowl of flour as if rubbing butter into flour to make a pastry dough. I'd tried combining potatoes and flour into a dough before (as if making gnocchi) and rolling it out and baking it, but inevitably, the finished product always puffs up and becomes chewy. This time, I kept the recipe simple and added ground, toasted mung beans. The crackers are crispy but tender, and taste a little like baked potatoes.

The recipe: I boil 3 small baking potatoes with skin on, and peel them when they are cooked to fork tender and cooled. I grate the potatoes into a large bowl, crack in an egg, add 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp salt and mix until combined. I toast 3/4 cup peeled mung beans in a 300 F oven for about 8 minutes or until the beans at the very side begin to turn golden brown. I grind the toasted mung beans using a coffee grinder to make mung bean flour, add to the potatoes and mix to combine to create a soft potato dough. Finally, I stir 1 tsp baking powder into 1/4 cup whole wheat flour and add the flour to the potato  dough. I knead the dough until the flour is incorporated. I roll the dough to about 1/8 inch thick, cut into desired shapes using a pastry wheel, and place on a lined baking sheet. I sprinkle some sugar on top of the biscuits for a glittery look and bake in a 325 F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until biscuits are crisp. Place on a cooling rack until cooled before enjoying.

I also used part of the dough into a pie tin for my cranberry cheesecake tart but I'll tell you about that one in a later post!