Valérie's French Cheesecake

CRUST
2 1/4 cups (200 g) shortbread cookies
1 stick (115 g) real salted butter

CHEESECAKE BATTER
5 cups (700 g) fromage blanc (use greek yogurt if you can't find real fromage blanc)
2 cups (200 g) of sugar
2 tbsp (càs) of flour
3 eggs
1 stick (115 g) real salted butter
1 tsp (càc) vanilla
1 tbsp (càs) fresh squeezed lemon juice

Melt the butter, crush the shortbread cookies. Remove the butter from the heat and mix the cookie crumbs with the butter in the pan. Pour this mixture into a round cake pan*, flatten with your palms, and chill while you make the filling.

For the filling Valérie melts the butter and mixes all of the remaining ingredients together with a whisk then she pours it into the chilled crust. Cook at 300 ° F (150° C) for 1 hour 15 minutes. Then she turns off the oven and allows the cake to cool slowly in the oven before refrigerating overnight.

* This pan is a nine inch (23 cm) straight sided cake pan. If you’re using a real cheesecake pan with a diameter of ten inches or more (25+ cm) you’ll want to double the recipe.

Perfect Philly Cream Cheese In Paris

Many of you saw the video that channel six filmed about how I make my own cheese for my cheesecake. I started doing this out of necessity because Philadelphia Cream Cheese couldn't be found. And then, wouldn't you know it, one month after the Cheesecake episode aired on television, our Paris supermarkets start importing Philadelphia Cream Cheese!

Rob says he still prefers the homemade cheese, plus it is significantly cheaper. I said I would like to try my favorite recipe of all time with the real Philadelphia brand cheese - just once a year, to enjoy the original flavor. So, before the blueberries all disappeared from the fall harvest, I whipped up a batch of Blueberry crumble this week. I have these lovely mini Cheesecake pans so with one batch of cheesecake batter I could make three mini-cheesecakes: one for our church gathering, one for a dinner at a friend's house, and one to freeze for a rainy day ;)

So why is Philadelphia brand so much better? I mean, France is the land of cheese, and everyone knows it. Surely there's a cheese out there that we could use? Why do they need American imports?

There is a cheese that you can use called fromage à tartiner (spreadable cheese). While it makes a decent substitute in a pinch, it's not the same flavor or consistency, so it falls short as a main ingredient. Since I can't demonstrate the difference in flavor over the internet, the least I can do is show you the difference in texture. On your left, Philadelphia brand - creamy like ice-cream. On your right, fromage à tartiner - crumbly like a feta.

Most Parisians I know prefer to substitute yogurt. I even have several yogurt based cheesecake posts on my blog. Yogurt makes a lighter recipe for those watching their diet. It's a great creamy substitute and it's easy to find. But for those who attended our Pastry Night with all French recipes, you may remember that while the cheesecakes were delicious, you can't disguise the distinctive yogurt flavor.

Which brings us to fresh homemade soft cheese. My homemade cheese doesn't have any cultures added to it yet, so it's flavor is mild. It is never as creamy as it should be, it's just as crumbly as the fromage à tartiner. If I knew how to fix that I would, but for the time being it will have to do.

Blueberry Crumble Cheeesecake

CRUMBLE / CRUST
1 and 1/2 cups (200 g) flour
6 tbsp (80 g) sugar
1/2 tsp (1/2 càc) cinnamon
3/4 cup (175 g) butter

FILLING
6 pkg (40 oz / 900 g) Philadelphia Cream Cheese / Homemade Soft Cheese
1 cup (200 g) sugar
2 tsp (càc) vanilla
6 eggs
1 tub (16 oz / 50 cl) crème fraîche or sour cream

GARNISH
2 cups (250 g) fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 325°F

CRUMBLE CRUST
Mix flour, 6 tbsp sugar and cinnamon. Cut in cold butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Save 1/2 cup for the crumble topping. Press remaining crumbs firmly onto bottom of pan. Bake 25 minutes or until the edge is lightly browned.

FILLING
Beat cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs and sour cream, beating after each addition. Pour over baked crumble crust.

TOPPING
Top with blueberries and sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.

Bake 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn off the oven, prop the oven door open with an oven mitt and let the cheesecake sit in the hot oven another hour. When you take the cheesecake out of the oven, you should allow it to cool completely before refrigerating it. If it chills too quickly it will crack. Let it refrigerate 24 hours before serving it. Cheesecake is always best after it marinates in the fridge for a while. Bon Appetit.

The day channel six came to my house - Cheesecake Video

Writing The Cheesecake Song

My bestie is a journalist who has a cheesecake blog. Every time she spots a new cheesecake in Paris, she'll write a juicy review. This month REAL Philadelphia Cream Cheese has just been released for sale in France at all your favorite grocery stores - Read more on Céline's blog! - oh yea, her blog is in French ;)

So, one fine day Céline gets a call from M6 asking if she would be willing to give them a tour of all the best places to find cheesecake in Paris, for one of their nationally syndicated television shows. Céline's response? No problem. She'll take them on a tour of all the best places to find cheesecake in Paris, but the BEST place to find cheesecake is at Nichole's house. So the show ends with a cheesecake party in my living room.



If you would like to learn to make the cheesecake shown in this film, you'll find the step by step guide here.

Baptism Cheesecake Buffet

Pastries have always had a magical effect in Paris - We already knew that cookies seduce everyone who tries them! This weekend we discovered Cheesecake makes an even bigger impact!!!

Cheesecake, for me, has always been a dessert reserved for big important celebrations, like weddings. So when my friend asked me to bake cheesecake for her baptism, I jumped at the occasion.

I started baking on Wednesday and when Friday rolled around I ran into two problems, and I had to call upon the kindness of my neighbors to pull me out of a pinch.

First the power went out and I couldn't boil my milk to make more cheese. So Rob visited all of our neighborhood friends to see who might have electricity - nobody did. But one neighbor has a restaurant with a gas stovetop that saved our day.

Later, I realized I was short a half a cup of sugar! Again, Rob started down the street and the first neighbor he found lent us a bit of sugar to finish the last cheesecake. phew!

Of course then we had to share our cheesecakes with the lovely neighbors that helped us out so generously! And, now I feel like a rock-star when I walk down the street and neighbors continue to shower complements on me about the amazing cheesecakes we thanked them with!

Check out my cheesecake recipes here.

Cheesecake Buffet

Caramel Cream Cheesecake

Chocolate Cheesecake

Red Velvet Ganache Cheesecake

Classic New York Style Cheesecake

Lemon Custard Cheesecake

Chocolate Ganache Cheesecake

Triple Indulgence - Cheesecake Bake-Off

Three Cheesecake Cordon Bleus Reunite To Propose You Their Best Recipes

Kim's Pumpkin Cheesecake
Kim is an American who has taken up residency in the Paris area for the last eight years. She loves her kitchen, but hates sharing it, so a big big thank you to Kim for opening her home and most importantly her kitchen which is her private retreat.

This day also featured my very own Nichole's Brownie Caramel Cheesecake. Cheesecakes are neither hard work, nor requiring super complicated skills. They are time intensive. You have to start a few days ahead of time and wait patiently, sometimes hours, between each step.

Céline's Light Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake
Céline is a Parisien du souche, gifted in cuisine, fan of cheesecakes, and one of my favorite recipe inventors.
Céline also has her own blog dedicated entirely to Cheesecake : http://cheesecake-in-paris.over-blog.com/

Fresh Homemade Soft Cheese

First we need to make curds (caillé) and whey (petit-lait). Curds are harvested by curdling the milk and draining off the liquid portion or whey. In some regions of England, curds produced from the use of rennet is referred to as junket, with true curds and whey only occurring from the natural separation of milk due to its environment (temperature, acidity). So today we will be using only temperature and natural vinegar.

Fresh Homemade Soft Cheese

12 C (3L) milk
2 tsp (càc) salt
5 tbsp (càs) white vinegar

In a large pot bring 12 C milk + 2 tsp of salt to a boil.

At the first sign of bubbles add the 5 tsp of vinegar. Stir, if the curds separate from the whey, then take it off the heat and don't touch it for two hours. (If the curds and whey do not immediately appear continue heating and add more vinegar until they begin to separate, then remove from the heat.) Once the separating process has begun, it will continue on it's own.

I have tried to cheat and only let the cheese set for a half an hour before straining it, but um, don't do that. I only got half as much cheese! The longer it sets the more curds it creates. So let it set while you go do something else. :)

After two hours you'll need to strain your cheese, catching all the curds and allowing all the whey to drain out. To do this you'll need a cheesecloth or a fine weave linen tea towel. Line your colander with this cloth and slowly pour the cold curds and whey into the middle of the cloth. Then when all the curds are piled up on the cloth, pull up each of the four corners and grab them with one fist, grab the bulging towel full of curds on the other end with your other hand and twist. Twist, Twist, Twist.

When no more whey is dripping, or if the curds start squirting through your towel, unwrap the cheese into a very large mixing bowl. You should have about 2 lbs (900g) of cheese.

I make this fresh cheese so often that my dear husband has purchased me a real cheese press. If your hands get tired from twisting and pressing the cheese cloth, as cheese press is a great idea. You can even get a similar effect without the fancy kitchen gadget, just place something heavy on your cheese bag so that the weight does all of the work for you.

Nichole's Brownie Caramel Cheesecake

While this may have been the most gorgeous cake I've ever made, this recipe turned out really rich. I think next time I would use less chocolate bottom and less ganache.

Brownie Caramel Cheesecake

BROWNIE
One brownie mix, and the oil and eggs that the box requires
CHEESECAKE
2 lbs (900g) of cream cheese or Fresh Homemade Soft Cheese
1 pkg (250g) marscapone cheese
1 1/3 C (230g) sugar
6 eggs
1/3 C (60g) flour
2 tsp (càc) vanilla
1 fresh lemon
1 tub (50cl) crème fraîche or sour cream
GANACHE
1 bar of baking chocolate
1 C (20cl) heavy cream
***Use half or two-thirds.
CARAMEL
3/4 C heavy cream
1 C (220g) sugar
6 Tbsp (càs) water
1/2 tsp (càc) vanille
pinch of salt
chopped walnuts

BROWNIE CRUST
Line the bottom of your cheesecake pan with parchment paper. Follow the preparation instructions on the brownie mix. Pour half of the brownie batter into the bottom of your cheesecake pan. Bake as directed, for 6-10 minutes. ***Use less, swirl the pan around so that the brownie batter just barely coats the bottom of the pan.

CHEESECAKE
Beat the ingredients in the order indicated. Click here for a complete step by step guide.

GANACHE
Wait until the cheesecake is cold. Heat the heavy cream, break the bar of chocolate into bits and stir it into the hot cream until it melts. Pour over the cheesecake and refrigerate.

CARAMEL
Wait until the ganache is cold. Heat the sugar and water stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the sugar caramelizes. When it's a nice golden color, take it off the heat. Stand back from the pan and stir in the heavy cream a quarter cup at a time. Then add the vanilla and salt. Strudel over the ganache topping sprinkle with walnuts, and refrigerate again.

Céline's Light Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake

Céline is my best friend. Her family has been in Paris for many generations, she's Parisien as Parisien comes. Like any respectable Parisien her ideal vacation is in New-York where she has often been sighted sampling cheesecake. When she's not off galavanting the big apple she's a journalist and she has hr own cheesecake blog in Paris. You can check it out here.

Many thanks Céline for participating in this cheesecake bake-off! Like always, your recipe is amazing!

Light Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake

Chef - Céline

RASPBERRY LEMON CHEESECAKE

6 Greek Yogurts (500g petits suisses)

1/2 C (100g) sugar

1 Tbsp (càs) flour

3 egg yolks

3 egg whites

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMB CRUST

1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs (200g spéculos nom générique)

6 tbsp butter, softened (115g de beurre demi-sel)

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMB CRUST

Butter and flour the cheesecake pan.

With a fork, mix the ingredients well.

Chef's touch - crumble the grahams while leaving big chunks to add texture.

Firmly press the graham cracker crust into the bottom of an 8-inch springform pan. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

RASPBERRY LEMON CHEESECAKE

Mix the yogurt, sugar, flour, and yolks.

Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, and delicately incorporate them into the the batter.

Zest one lemon and drop in whole fresh raspberries. The day of the bake-off raspberries were not in season so we added whole frozen raspberries.

Pour over the baked crust and bake 40 minutes at 356°C (180°F)

Kim's Pumpkin Cheesecake

Kim is an American who has made her home in the Paris region for the last eight years. This recipe is a favorite of her two sons. The spiced flavor is reminiscent of holidays past. Thanks for participating in our Cheesecake bake-off, we'll have to do it again sometime soon.

Pumpkin Cheesecake
Chef - Kim

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

All of the ingredients should be at room temperature for this recipe.

2/3 cup packed light of dark brown sugar + 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

3/4 tsp (càc) ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp (càc) ground cloves

1/4 tsp (càc) ground ginger

1/8 tsp (càc) freshly grated or ground nutmeg

1 lb cream cheese (2 boxes of KiRi)

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp (càc) vanilla

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMB CRUST
1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs (200g spéculos grande marque)
6 tbsp butter, melted (115g de beurre demi-sel)
1/4 cup sugar (5.5 g)


GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMB CRUST

Mix the graham crackers in a food processor until evenly powdered before adding the butter.

Chef's touch - use brand name crackers (spéculos) they have more oil in them and stick together better.

Firmly press the graham cracker crust into the bottom of an 8-inch springform pan. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

Combine 2/3 of brown sugar, and all of the spices in a bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl beat cream cheese until smooth, about 30 to 60 seconds. Gradually add the sugar mixture until smooth and creamy, about 1 or 2 minutes.

Beat in eggs one at a time until well-blended, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go.

Add pumpkin puree and beat until just blended.

Pour the batter over the crust and smooth the top.

Place a cake pan or loaf pan of water in the oven to moisten the air. Place the springform pan on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F (200°C) for 30 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 325ºF and bake for 10 minutes longer or until the edges of the cheesecake are puffed but the centre still looks moist and jiggles when the pan is tapped, about 10 minutes more.

Meanwhile, whisk together the sour cream, remaining 1/4 cup of brown sugar and vanilla until well-blended. Pour on top of hot cake and tilt the pan to spread the topping evenly. Return to the oven for 7 minutes.

Remove from oven and place pan on a wire rack and cover the pan and rack with a large inverted bowl or post so that the cake cools slowly. Let cool completely before refrigerating. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably 24 hours before serving.

Pumpkin Cheesecake from The Joy of Cooking by Marion Rombauer Becker et. al. (1997, Scribner)

*** Nichole's touch - You can make pumpkin purée with a fresh orange squash such as pumpkin, citrouille, or potiron. Remove the seeds, chunk the flesh, boil until it's the consistency of mashed potatoes.

Best Recipe Ever - Nichole's Cheesecake

I love cheesecake. But not the cake-y kind that remind you of a bunt cake, and definitely not the instant no-bake kind that resemble a flan. No. For me, a real cheesecake is pure CHEESE! And everybody knows I love cheese. My hubby always jokes that the reason we moved to France was to save money on our family cheese purchases. Real cheese is dessert in itself, and a real cheesecake should be dense, moist, with a perfect creamy crumble like a real cheese. If you like The Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes, you're going to love this recipe.

As soon as I realized I could make my own cheese, my love for cheesecake grew leaps and bounds. I'm probably the only Parisian making my own cheese in my shoe-box sized latin quarter apartment... :) But that's me. A little quirky, I know. If you want to replace the homemade cheese with Philly Cream Cheese, be my guest, you'll need 2 lbs.

I've been working on this recipe for 4 years. As I type this entry, I have before me, my notes in shorthand on a tattered paper stained many times by the recipe it spells out. This will be my second attempt to type it out...

Nichole's Cheesecake
Preparation : 1 heure
Cook time : 1 heure 15 minutes
Waiting time : 1 heure au four, 24 heures au frigo
Makes about 20 pieces

INGREDIENTS
12 C (3L) milk
2 tsp salt
5 tbsp white vinegar
-------------------------------
1 pkg of graham crackers (1.5 C crumbs)
1/3 C melted butter
- - - or - - -
1 C (150g) butter cookies or shortbread
1/2 C (50g) gingerbread cookies
1/3 C (83g) melted butter
-------------------------------
1 pkg (250g) marscapone cheese
1 1/3 C (230g) sugar
6 eggs
1/3 C (60g) flour
2 tsp vanilla
1 fresh lemon
1 tub (50cl) crème fraîche or sour cream

FRESH HOMEMADE SOFT CHEESE

In a large pot bring 12 C milk + 2 tsp of salt to a boil.

At the first sign of bubbles add the 5 tsp of vinegar. Stir, if the curds separate from the whey, then take it off the heat and don't touch it for two hours. (If the curds and whey do not immediately appear continue heating and add more vinegar until they begin to separate, then remove from the heat.) Once the separating process has begun, it will continue on it's own.

I have tried to cheat and only let the cheese set for a half an hour before straining it, but I only got half as much cheese! The longer it sets the more curds it creates. So let it set while you go do something else. :)

After two hours you'll need to strain your cheese, catching all the curds and allowing all the whey to drain out. To do this you'll need a cheesecloth or a fine weave linen tea towel. Line your colander with this cloth and slowly pour the cold curds and whey into the middle of the cloth. Then when all the curds are piled up on the cloth, pull up each of the four corners and grab them with one fist, grab the bulging towel full of curds on the other end with your other hand and twist. Twist, Twist, Twist. When no more whey is dripping, or if the curds start squirting through your towel, unwrap the cheese into a very large mixing bowl. You should have about 2 lbs (900g) of cheese. (more about Fresh Homemade Soft Cheese here)

ASSEMBLY OF THE CHEESECAKE PAN

Open the cheesecake pan, remove the walls and place the bottom on a flat surface. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, and reattach the walls overtop leaving the parchment paper sticking out on all sides.

CRUST

Crush your cookie crumbs for the crust. Melt the butter in a small pan, add the crumbs to the melted butter and stir until all of the crumbs are evenly coated. Spread the crumbs evenly on the bottom of the prepared cheesecake pan.

CHEESECAKE BATTER

Preheat the oven to 325°F (170°C).

Mix the ingredients in the following order with an electric mixer on the lowest speed.

First mix the fresh homemade soft cheese with the marscapone until it's 'as fluffy as it will get'.

Then add the sugar little by little, continue mixing until it's creamy.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each egg.

Then add the flour, vanilla, zest of the lemon, then juice the lemon and add the juice as well.

Add the sour cream (crème fraîche) and mix well.

Pour the batter into the cheesecake pan.

Place it on a high rack in the middle of the oven, leave at least two centimeters space between it and the heating elements because this cake will rise while cooking.

Cook for 1 hour 15 minutes. I cover my cheesecake half way through the cooking time with aluminum foil. Too early and it will stick to the cake, but if I don't cover it get's dark.

Turn off the oven, prop the oven door open with an oven mitt and let the cheesecake sit in the hot oven another hour. When you take the cheesecake out of the oven, you should allow it to cool completely before refrigerating it. If it chills too quickly it will crack. Let it refrigerate 24 hours before serving it. Cheesecake is always best after it marinates in the fridge for a while. Bon Appetit.

Cheesecake de Nichole

Préparation : 1 heure
Cuisson : 1 heure 15 minutes
Temps d’attente : 1 heure au four, 24 heures au frigo
Fait environ 20 parts

INGRÉDIENTS
3L lait
2 càc sel
5 càs vinaigre d'alcool
-------------------------------
100g petit beurre
100g spéculos
83g beurre (1/3 d'une plaquette)
-------------------------------
1 pkg marscapone (250g)
230 g sucre
6 oeufs
60 g farine
2 càc extrait de vanille
1 citron
1 pkg crème fraîche (50cl)

FROMAGE À TARTINER FAIT MAISON
3 L lait + 2 càc de sel porté à ébullition
Ajouter 5 càs de vinaigre d'alcool
Laisser refroidir et passer à étamine
(fait 900g de fromage)

LE MOULE À CHEESECAKE
Détacher le fond du moule à cheese-cake et placer le tout seul sur le plan de travail. Couvrir le du papier cuisson. Attacher le cylindre du moule à cheese-cake au fond en laissant le papier cuisson déborde de tous les côtés.

LA PATE
Écraser les gâteaux secs. Mélanger les avec le beurre fondu. Étaler au fond du moule.

CHEESECAKE

Préchauffer le four à 170°C.

Mélanger les ingrédients dans l’ordre suivant avec un mixer électrique – vitesse première

D’abord, mélanger le fromage fait maison et le marscapone jusqu’à Léger. (until fluffy)

Ajouter le sucre petit à petit, continue à mélanger jusqu’au crémeux.

Ajouter les oeufs une à la fois, mélanger après chaque oeuf.

Ajouter le farine, la vanille, le zeste et le jus du citron.

Ajouter la crème fraîche et mélanger bien.

Verser le tout (sur la pâte) dans le moule à cheese-cake.

Placer sur l’étage haut du four en laissant une marge de deux centimètres. Il gonfle, mais pas beaucoup.

Faire cuire pour 1 heure 15 minutes. Je couvre le cheese-cake du papier aluminium la deuxième mi-temps.

Eteindre le four. Supporter la porte du four ouvert de quelques centimètres à l’aide d’une manique, et laisser le cheese-cake au four éteint une heure de plus.

Sortir le cheese-cake du four à refroidir entièrement puis laisser le se fait au réfrigérateur 24 heures avant de le servir.