"Jason Quick" > wrote:

>Heh. You're far more ambitious than I; whipping egg whites is something I
>only do for meringues and if I have to. : )

I've got it down now, so no biggie, a minute or two by hand and their
perfect. And the volume of the batter really increases.

>I find that the higher starting temp that I mentioned before lends some
>height as well; the heat causes 'em to puff up a bit. Have to watch 'em,
>though, since they can crack that way too. But cracks can be fixed - put
>the thing in the freezer 'til it's almost frozen, then use the edge of a
>knife dipped in hot water to smooth the cracks out...go along the cracks,
>THEN across.

I've seen the two temperature stage cooking method in recipes. I will
try that, especially now that I think i've gotten the ingredients down
to the right amounts. I'm tweaking sweeteness now.

>> I've been reducing fat/calories by making them with
>> 1/3 fat free cream cheese
>> 1/3 neufchatel cream cheese (1/3 less fat)
>> 1/3 regualr cream cheese
>> and the fat-free stuff is mushy as all hell.
>
>Hm. Have you considered low-fat ricotta? Nice texture, especially if you
>run it through a food processor w/ some half&half first, and unlike fat-free
>CC, it can still be called "cheese" without feeling like you're a liar. But
>IMHO, cheesecake is one of those things that one eats fairly infrequently,
>so you can afford to splurge on the calories.

Well since it is one of the easier desserts to make low carb, I'm
trying to do different flavors and use it as a basis for more often
desserts. I made some espresso flavored ones that were really good.
Even the ones with the liqueurs that I'm not crazy (Anisette,
Amaretto). So far they've been well received.

>On a related note, I was making tiramisu last night and made the mistake of
>looking at the calories in the mascarpone cheese....EEK! It's *so* good,
>though.

Well that's why I'd like to moderate the carbs/fat/calories as long as
I still end up with a rich dessert. So far a success... even non
dieters are liking it a lot.

>> Also I think I've found an insurance for the water
>> leakage problem. Sit the springform in a layer of flour in the
>> standard foil wrap around the springform. Any water that gets in is
>> adsorbed by the flour and I think the flour gums up holes and slows
>> leaks.
>
>Part of the solution is also to buy good-quality springforms...they don't
>tend to get out of round so easily. Kaiser's "Noblesse" line is very good;
>their "La Forme" line even better. There are also loose-bottomed cheesecake
>pans, which have no spring to them at all. See them he
>
>http://www.cooking.com/products/shpr...0&ClassNo=0224
>
>If you're feeling ballsy, you can even make 'em in a regular 3" deep cake
>pan - just make sure to use a heavy pan, grease the bottom well, and put a
>layer of parchment over the grease. Then you can *float* the damned things
>in a bain-marie and they won't leak. : )

You know I was thinking of doing this because the way I make them
there is no chance of them sticking. I parchment the bottom and all
the sides. When I'm done my springforms are clean except for traces of
butter. So I think I can do a cake pan without any problem!

>> I'm doing mini cheesecakes now. I'm using the foil cups-no muffin pans
>> neccessary. Without a water bath they fell--still tasted good.
>
>Aye, that's actually the one sort of thing where I *will* use a water bath -
>otherwise you either get cakes that are rock-hard on the edges and raw in
>the middle, or they go all to hell. Also have to bake 'em at a lower,
>constant temp, like no higher than 280F.

I've been baking them at 325 and they seem to be okay. Won't know for
sure until people start eating them tonight (24 hours after cooked).
The minis set much faster. The cake are better after 2 days in the
fridge. One day and the minis were good. I'm also happy to say that I
successfully made a half dozen in my toaster oven using the standard
toaster-oven tray with water in it. Cooking time was longer than in
the oven--But I think their ok! I ran out fo room in the oven and had
spare batter...

>Jason
>

DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email)