Dessert

Il y a quelques semaines, j’ai réalisé une revue de recette pour le magazine EASYEATS et leur blog. Une expérience très rigolote ! J’ai fait un cheesecake à l’italienne sans fond. Check it out !

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A couple of weeks ago I did a recipe review for the great EASYEATS magazine and their blog. It was a super fun experience! I made an italian cheesecake without crust. Check it out!

By Louise*Sk -

No need to say that when Easy Eats asked me if I wanted to review a recipe for the blog, I was on board from the start! I chose the Italian Cheesecake (page 42) in
Marcia Slawson’s new e-Book, Sweet Eats.

It didn’t stay long in the fridge – in two days,
the four of us had eaten everything.

I love the flavor and the texture of the recipe. I have to admit that what I personally prefer in a cheesecake is the crust. Thus, I was a bit disappointed when I discovered that my cheesecake wasn’t going to have any crumbly layer – just the fluffy layer. Actually, what author Marcia Slawson suggests is that the flour is put directly in the
“usual topping layer.” I found it to be quite thick, almost like a French flan, but the
taste was good!

For a European like me, it was a bit tricky to convert the measurements into
European ones. So for instance, for 1/2 ounce ricotta, I used 125 g. Otherwise, for tablespoons I used my classic tablespoons, and for the cups of wet ingredients I counted 1 cup = 250 ml. So that’s that. This was the trickiest part of the recipe I’d say. But once you’ve converted the measurements it gets quite easy. It’s a good idea to
let it cool in the fridge until the next day. That I’ve learned from all the previous cheesecakes my dad used to make when we were little, so I won’t argue with Marcia on that one. You should note that after 24h in the fridge, the cheesecake falls down
a bit. I did half portion, so you’ll have a much bigger cake if you do the whole portion recipe!

In general Marcia’s recipe book Sweet Eats is a good tool for gluten-free baking. Indeed, the recipes are quite clear and information is given in the beginning concerning specific gluten-free baking ingredients (which is useful when you are
new at all this). What I felt was missing were beautiful pictures of all the cakes and maybe more specific sections with the types of cake that you want to perform. That said, trying the cheesecake recipe had me wanting to try other of her recipes.

As there was no “dough layer”, which is traditional in an Italian version, I called it the
“à la Italian Cheesecake”. Doesn’t it look delicious?

Italian Cheesecake

Reprinted with permission from Sweet Eats by Marcia Slawson

8 ounces organic cream cheese
1 cup organic ricotta cheese
3/4 high quality raw (dark) agave
2 large organic eggs
5 tsp brown rice flour
5 tsp organic corn starch or tapioca starch
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
8 tbsp organic unsalted butter
1 cup Fage 2% plain greek yogurt

My European version (half size)
113g cream cheese
125g ricotta
1 egg
0,6 dl + 2tbsp agave
2,5 tsp brown rice flour
2,5 tsp corn starch
1 + 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
125 ml plain greek yogurt

Preheat oven to 325°F

Grease and lightly flour a deep dish glass Pyrex pie plate, Corningware pie plate or 10-inch springform pan (easiest for removal of cake). An easy way to flour pan is to put a small amount of (brown rice) flour into a small fine mesh strainer and shake evenly around the pan. If using oil spray it is not necessary to flour pan.

Melt butter in small saucepan over very low heat stirring constantly until melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Use an electric mixer to mix cream cheese and ricotta until well combined. If using a hand held mixer start on low speed and increase to #3 speed. Use low speed if using a stand mixer.

Add agave and mix on medium speed until creamy (hand held mixer) or medium-low speed (stand mixer). Add eggs one at time mixing well after each addition. Add flour, cornstach (or tapioca starch) and vanilla extract and beat well on medium speed (hand held mixer) or medium-low (stand mixer). Add melted and cooled butter and continue beating. Add yogurt and mix well on medium speed (hand held mixer) or medium-low (stand mixer) until completely incorporated. Drain off any liquid on top of yogurt container before measuring.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes in preheated oven. Afer 45 minutes turn oven off and leave the cake in the warm oven for 1 and 1/2 hours. Remove from oven, cover and chill in refrigerator for 24 hours.

Optional: Top with fresh fruit or Vanilla Yogurt topping.

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Editor’s Note: We are excited to have Louise review Marcia Slawson‘s new
e-Book, Sweet Eats, for us. As she lives in France, Louise gives us
her thoughts both on the original recipe as well as adapted measurements to
befit a European kitchen. Enjoy!