Daring Bakers in April: Goat Cheesecake
April 27, 2009 at 2:16 am | Posted in cakes & tortes, cheesecakes, daring bakers, groups, sweet things | 48 Comments
I was this close (picture me squinting while holding my thumb and index finger about a milimeter apart), this close to skipping this month’s Daring Bakers’ challenge. See, I have done cheesecake one, two, three, four times here already. One of those was even with the DBs last year. I thought about it for awhile, and then I decided that since Jenny from Jenny Bakes basically gave us free reign to modify her chosen cheesecake recipe, I may as well make some tweaks and play along.
I’ve had goat cheesecake in restaurants before, but never at home, so I thought I’d give it a shot. Fresh goat cheese is pretty similar in consistency to cream cheese, and I figured I could do a straight-out swap with the two. I settled on a combo of half goat cheese and half cream cheese…that way it wouldn’t taste too barnyardy.
R and I are just a family of two, so we didn’t need a several pound cheesecake on our hands (or our hips). I scaled back the recipe to a third of its original size, and decided to bake off little individual cakes. I used 4-ounce aluminium foil cups, and got four servings from the batter.
I think cheesecake is quite a heavy, rich dessert, and I don’t like it further bogged down with too many add-ins. A little fruit sauce spooned on top suits me just fine. Here, I made an easy spiced cherry compote. I simply took a jar of tart cherries in light syrup, stained the syrup into a pot and reduced it a bit with half a cinnamon stick and a couple of cardamom pods. Once off the heat, I fished out the spices and stirred the cherries back in.
This was quite a nice change of pace. The cheesecakes had what I would call a “delicate goatiness.” Not too overpowering, and nice with the cherry sauce. Check out Jenny Bakes for the original recipe, and visit the new Daring Kitchen site to see what everyone else is up to!
Goat Cheesecake- makes 4 individual-size cheesecakes
modified from Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake
Note: I used Anna’s Almond Cinnamon Thins in the crust and 1/3 less fat cream cheese (that “Neufchâtel” stuff) in the cheesecake base.
for the crust:
2 oz graham cracker or wafer cookie crumbs
1/2 oz butter, melted
1/2 t sugar
pinch of saltfor the cheesecake:
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
4 oz fresh (not aged) goat cheese, room temperature
1/3 c sugar
pinch of salt
1 egg
1 t lemon juice
1/3 c heavy cream
1 t vanilla extract (or small amount of vanilla bean seeds)
-Preheat oven to 350°F (Gas Mark 4 = 180°C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.
-Spray four 4-ounce ramekins or aluminum foil cups with non-stick cooking spray. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into the bottom of the cups. Place cups on a sheet tray and bake for about 8 minutes, just to set the crusts. Remove sheet from oven and set crusts aside.
-Process the cream cheese and goat cheese in a food processor until smooth (don’t forget to scrape!). Add the sugar and pinch of salt; mix and scrape again. Do the same with the egg, then add the lemon juice, heavy cream and vanilla bean seeds or extract and process until smooth and fully combined.
-Spoon batter into prepared crusts and gently tap the sheet tray on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Remove the cups from the sheet tray and place them in a small roasting pan or a baking dish. Pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake cups.
-Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until they are almost done – this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cakes to hold together, but still jiggle in the center. You don’t want them to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for another 20 minutes. This lets the cakes finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that they won’t crack on the top.
-After 20 minutes, remove pan from oven and lift the cups carefully out of water bath. Let them finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, they are ready to serve.
The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.
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a whisk and a spoon 
How novel to use goat cheese. Gorgeous cheesecake.
Comment by rachel— April 27, 2009 #
Looks delicious. I would not have thought about using goat’s cheese instead. The spiced cherry compote sounds great. I must try that. 🙂
Comment by Julia @ Mélanger— April 27, 2009 #
Your photographs are simply stunning and I appreciate the scaled down recipe for those times when you don’t want too much cheesecake lying around the house. And goat cheese? would never have thought of it!
Comment by ciaochowlinda— April 27, 2009 #
I’m a huge goat cheese fan & a huge cheesecake fan, so I’d sure like to taste it! They’re sure cute little treats 🙂
Comment by Lori @ The Recipe Girl— April 27, 2009 #
goat cheese is a great idea! there is a restaurant near me that does a cheesecake with chevre and manchego- amazing!
Comment by Lauren— April 27, 2009 #
Totaly ingenious, Steph! (but how could we expect anything less from you!!!)
The association of flavor, goat cheese and cherry, must have been divine!
Comment by vibi— April 27, 2009 #
What a great variation! I love goat cheese so this would be a great change of pace.
This was my first Daring Baker’s Challenge!
Comment by Connie @ Tales From The Fridge— April 27, 2009 #
I have never had goat cheesecake before. now that I think of it, the goat cheese may cut through some of the sweetness of a regular cheesecake. THANKS A MILLION for the recipe. Now if I could only keep my cheesecake top from cracking.
Comment by Eliana— April 27, 2009 #
I will be making this very soon. 🙂 YUM.
Comment by Lindsey— April 27, 2009 #
tout est tellement meilleur avec du fromage de chèvre ! moi, la fan de ce fromage, je ne comprends même pas que je n’y ai pas pensé !
c’est superbe comme d’habitude 🙂
Comment by isabelle— April 27, 2009 #
That looks beautiful, Steph. Goat Cheese!! Hunh! Very creative.
Comment by Margaret— April 27, 2009 #
I love cheesecake when it’s not too complicated. I’m definitely going to try your goat cheese version.
Comment by Beryl— April 27, 2009 #
Those are so beautiful, nicely done. Way to stick with it, I am salivating right now.
Comment by Mermaid Sweets— April 27, 2009 #
That cherry sauce on top looks positively delicious!
– Elizabeth http://strawberriesinparis.wordpress.com
Comment by liz2024— April 27, 2009 #
goats cheese!!!! I love it!!! It would give such a unique flavor!!! I’m a fan of goats cheese so this is sure to be gooood!! and not to mention with cherry syrup! yum
Comment by Ashley— April 27, 2009 #
love it, thanks
Comment by nico— April 27, 2009 #
Lovely combination! And as usual, your photos are stunning 🙂
Comment by bakergirlcreations— April 27, 2009 #
wow! i have never had goat cheese in cheesecake before, but i can only imagine that fantastic and interesting flavor! great picture.
Comment by Sophie— April 27, 2009 #
Excellent idea to scale back AND use the goat cheese. I’ve never had goat cheese cheesecake but I’m going to try this approach next time.
Comment by breadchick— April 27, 2009 #
I love goat cheese…I bet this was amazing!
Comment by Jamie— April 27, 2009 #
love the goat cheese in this!! wonderful job!
Comment by Meeta— April 27, 2009 #
YUM! I’ve been wanting to make a goat cheese cheesecake. It must have been very delicious.
Comment by pinkstripes— April 27, 2009 #
Very pretty.
(Oh and I was beside you, with my fingers doing the same.)
Comment by Jenny— April 27, 2009 #
I think your creativity paid off, this looks delicious!
Comment by Gretchen Noelle— April 27, 2009 #
That looks gorgeous. I’m going to have to try the foil cups next time. I used 4-ounce ramekins for some of mine. I like the small portion size, but it was next to impossible to remove mine from the cups other than by the spoonful. =) And neat idea to use goat cheese.
Comment by Di— April 27, 2009 #
GORGEOUS pics and this cheesecake looks SOOOO yummmmmmy…!
Comment by lyndsay— April 27, 2009 #
Oh, Stephanie! Am I ever glad you made it to the challenge. Delicious!
Comment by Ivonne— April 27, 2009 #
I’m laughing so hard at the idea of tasting “barnyardy” that I’m having trouble appreciating your lovely cheescakes! (Is it sweet, salty, or sour? Nope, it has a hint of barnyard. *giggles*)
Comment by Libby— April 27, 2009 #
“Delicate goatiness?” Lucky me that I like goat cheese, because that phrase just makes me nervous 🙂 It sounds like a wonderful flavor combo though – love the spiced cherry topping.
Comment by Caitlin— April 27, 2009 #
What an elegant and creative interpretation of the cheesecake recipe. Love the spiced cherry sauce!
Comment by Elle— April 27, 2009 #
Mmm, your cheesecake looks amazing!! Awesome job =D!
Comment by Lauren— April 28, 2009 #
Your little cheesecakes look amazing! You know, I’ve never had goat cheese! I hear people either love it or hate it. I really need to give it a shot!
Comment by Tracey— April 28, 2009 #
this is really an interesting cheesecake. made with goat cheese must be delicious 🙂
Comment by snooky doodle— April 28, 2009 #
Mmm, I love goat cheesecake! It’s one of my favs. Yours looks especailly good with that wonderful cinnamon cherry compote. I wish I could have one right now. Deeeeelish!
Comment by Elyse— April 28, 2009 #
I love goat cheese!!! I wonder if goat cheesecake would convert me to a cheesecake lover, hmmmm…may have to try a small one to find out.
Comment by Chantal— April 28, 2009 #
Wow! Goat Cheese cake. that is inspiring and yours looks just wonderful!
Comment by Dharm— April 28, 2009 #
Ohh good idea with the goat cheese! I love it!
Comment by howtoeatacupcake— April 28, 2009 #
goat cheesecake! interesting!
Comment by Jaime— April 28, 2009 #
great idea – i just had goat cheese cheesecake… (with beets!! a tad strange) during my anniversary dinner. AMAZING. i’m sure this was wonderful, it definitely looks it.
Comment by Karen— April 28, 2009 #
wow such an awesome little cheesecake. Goat cheese, wow! something that I must try, yours is so inviting lovely!
Comment by Big Boys Oven— April 29, 2009 #
I had goat cheesecake at a restaurant recently but could hardly taste the “goatyness”. I may have to try your version, as I love anything with goat cheese. At any rate, the pictures look delicious!
Comment by Mary— April 29, 2009 #
Goat cheese, but still sweet? How interesting. Thanks for going ahead and using this as a chance to experiment; I definitely wouldn’t have thought of adding goat cheese!
Comment by JennyBakes— April 29, 2009 #
How superb!!!!!
Comment by Corry Garam (Melbourne)— May 1, 2009 #
I love goat cheese cheesecake and yours looks wonderful.
Comment by Laura— May 7, 2009 #
Wow that’s really creative! Good job on the challenge 🙂
Comment by Loie— May 8, 2009 #
I’m all for portion control and your individual cheesecakes are the perfect size. Nice presentation.
Comment by Teenie— May 10, 2009 #
I’ve never tried out goat cheese either. But the photo of this cheesecake just looks so good I might actually try it just so I can eat this cheesecake!
Comment by Gourmet Mama— June 28, 2009 #
Ended up with an abundance of goat cheese and been wanting to try a goat cheese cheesecake. Just made — cooling in the oven right now. Smell great. Used amarretti (sp?) cookies for the crust. Don’t have sour cherries, but have good quality cherry preserves so will try a splash of lemon juice and simmer with cinnamon stick and cardamon pods per the recipe. I am predicting a great result! thanks
Comment by Pat— February 21, 2010 #