Tofu — Cheesecake

It’s one of the easiest recipes you’ll come across. Cheesecake can be quick and light as well as rich and satisfying. Despite the imperfection of the cracked surface this weekend (and the fact that we discovered too late that our lemon juice contained sodium metabisulfate, aka preservative E223, which is very harmful to T, so we left it out) our tasty cheesecake has always been a hit.

Created after some experimentation with a regular cheesecake recipe, it was originally intended to avoid the cloying richness of cream, and make a bit more virtuous a dessert. Never a fan of cheesecake anyway, I was especially surprised by the lightness and clean flavor of this one, and make it every time the occasion calls for something that looks fancy but is relatively simple. Even dyed-in-the-wool NY cheesecake eaters have been surprised at how good it is, and our non-vegetarian friends haven’t even known the difference between regular cheesecake and the vegan variety — so this truly is a winner of a recipe.

Quick Lemon Cheesecake

• 1 14 oz pkg. firm silken tofu
• 1 8 oz. pkg “Cream Cheese” Tofutti, or, substitute regular creamed cheese if you’d like
• 2/3 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. lemon juice (Modification: 1 c. other unsweeetened fruit conserve. We tried 1/4 c. blood orange juice – looks lovely but acidity isn’t enough to affect flavor)
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 2 tbsp cornstarch + ice water

Though a graham cracker crust is traditional — a more flavorful alternative is a gingersnap crust! You can make it in the same way — whiz up ten or fifteen dry gingersnaps in your food processor (or ginger nuts, as they’re called here; just don’t confuse them with actual nuts…) and add a tablespoon of butter or margarine to create a crumb the texture of damp sand, and then pack it with your fingertips into the bottom of a spring form pan. Pre-baking the crust is unnecessary.

~ Preheat Oven 350 ~

Place silken tofu, cream cheese in bowl, and, using an immersion blender or beater, blend until smooth. Add lemon flavoring, either in juice or compote form.

In a smaller separate bowl, combine 2 tbsp ice water, almond extract and cornstarch with a whisk. Pour mixture into tofu blend and beat fiuuntil VERY smooth. Pour lemon filling into gingersnap crust, and bake for 45 minutes. Allow to cool for two hours, or for very best firmness, REFRIGERATE OVERNIGHT. (Of course, it’s also firm enough and edible warm, if you’re unable to wait. It’s just good any old way, but let’s pretend you have the patience to wait until it cools, okay?) Can be served with a citrus sauce for drizzling, mint leaves for garnish or edible flowers and grated chocolate. Or, it’s just good with a fork out of the pan, but again, please: let’s use some restraint, okay?

Cheesecake cracks.

It’s one of those things that just happens, but it makes it no less annoying that it happens to everyone when it happens to you. A couple of things that you can do to prevent this is to use a regular pie plate instead of a spring form. I rarely get cracks when using a regular pie plate, reason being, perhaps because the thinner spring form sides cool faster, allowing the edges of the cheesecake to shrink and pull. If you run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake before it’s 100% cool, post-baking cracks might be prevented.

Some people also swear by baking only on the bottom rack, not beating the mixture for more than two minutes (but this contains no eggs, so I’m thinking that doesn’t apply here), but mainly I think a cheesecake will crack when it’s over-baked. Using a water bath and baking it for no more than 45 minutes — then turning the oven off no matter if the middle is still wobbly — is the very best thing. The ambient heat will bake the center and the cheesecake will be just fine still in the oven. Allowing it to cool covered can also help.

And, if all else fails, you were going to cover that bit with grated chocolate and a little Devonshire Cream anyway.

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