A New Adventure - Goat's Milk Cheesecake!! (or Whole Milk Cheesecake)

To make a long story short, a couple of my husband's friends at work were watching some TV show about cheesecakes.  They asked my husband if I had ever made a goat's milk cheesecake since I make goat's milk cheese.  A new adventure was born!!

First, I had to find a "good" cheesecake recipe - where else to look but good ole Joy of Cooking.  The recipe did involve a little bit of shopping for the graham cracker crust, heavy whipping cream, a springform pan (you can get those at Walmart!), etc.  The main ingredient in any cheesecake is cream cheese.  Fortunately, I have this nifty cheese cookbook, A Cheesemakere's Journey by Mary Jane Toth which had a Neufchatel recipe (very similar to cream cheese but less fat!).  The recipe calls for 32 oz of cream cheese so I will have to make two batches of the Neufchatel.  This is so easy!!!

Here is the recipe for the Neufchatel makes about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of cheese.  You don't have to use goat's milk - whole cow's milk would work - just don't use the ultra-pasteurized milk - make sure it says WHOLE milk on the label.

1 gallon whole milk (either cow or goat - I am using goat since that is what I have available)
1/2 cup cultured buttermilk (not low-fat!!!)
2 T diluted rennet  (Dilution - 3 drops of liquid rennet added to 1/3 cup of cold water)
(to order rennet go to: Liquid Vegetable Rennet )

Warm the milk to 80 degrees F in a stainless pot.  Remove pot from heat.  Stir in the cultured buttermilk. Add the 2 T of the diluted rennet.  Cover the pot and let the pot sit undisturbed for 8 to 12 hours.

This is what you should find after 12 hours.  It should look like thickened yogurt.  Line a large colander with cheesecloth and scoop the thickened curds into it.  Collect and tie together the corners of the cheesecloth of form a bag, with the curds at the bottom, and hang the bag to drain for 6 to 8 hours. 

Cheese is drained enough when it is the consistency of cream cheese.  Refrigerate.  This cheese will keep for about 2 weeks (though we are going to use it in the next day or two for our cheesecake).  You have to make two batches of this since the recipe calls for two pounds of "cream cheese."  Below is "goat's milk" Neufchatel or cream cheese.

That was the hardest part - WHEW!!!  Now the fun begins!!

The first step is to make the crust.  First, grease your 9" springform pan with Pam, you do have a springform pan, don't you??  I bought mine at Walmart - they had a set of 3 for $9.99.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

The Crust

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

Mix together.  The test to see if you have the right consistency for your graham cracker crust, is to take a small fist full of crumbs in your hand and squeeze it in your fist.  If the crumbs hold together - success!!  If not, add a little more melted butter until you get the right consistency.

Press the graham cracker crumbs into the greased pan.  Press some of the crumbs about an half inch to an inch up the side of the pan. 

You have two options depending on how you like your crust.  If you prefer a firmer crust, bake the crust for 10 minutes in a 350 degree F oven.  Otherwise, place your crust in the refrigerator.

The Filling

32 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (see above for homemade cream cheese - or if you use store bought do not use non-fat or low fat)
1 cup granulated white sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
5 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon lemon zest (see comment below - I would make this optional!)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine the cream cheese, sugar and flour.  Mix for only 2 minutes - this is important!!  Do not OVER MIX.  Over mixing will bring air into your batter which could cause your cheesecake to crack while baking - not a pretty sight!!  Also, mix on low or medium speeds.

Add the eggs, one at a time scraping the bowl as needed.  Mix in the whipping cream. lemon zest and vanilla extract until just incorporated.  Pour into pan.

Place the pan on top of a large cookie sheet and place in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes on the middle rack.  After 15 minutes, lower the temperature to 250 degrees F and cook for an additional 60 to 90 minutes - or until firm and only the center of the cheesecake looks a little wet and wobbly.  My baking time was about 60 minutes - your's may differ because of different ovens.  But the center of the cheesecake may seem a little wobbly - it will firm up as it cools.

Remove pan from oven and place on wire rack.  DO NOT REMOVE FROM SPRINGFORM PAN!!!

Topping

1 cup sour cream (not low fat or fat free)
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Mix together and spread over top of cheesecake once the cake has cooled a bit.  Place cheesecake in 250  degree oven for an additional 15 minutes. 

Cool on wire rack. 

NOW the hard part . . . this is one of the those recipes that really, really taste so much better the next day.  So, reluctantly you must put it in the refrigerator and let it "rest" its pretty little head for tomorrow.  Yes, you can occasionally open the door and droll at it.  I kept mine in the springform pan over night and removed it in the morning.

It's a miracle . . .  we have cheesecake!!!  The finale product!!

And my husband whisked it off to work before I even tasted a crumb.  So I will have a "verdict' this afternoon.  I made him SWEAR that he would save me a piece!!

VERDICT 

I still haven't tasted the cheesecake but my husband called me at noon to report on what the
"reviews" were.  He said everyone that had a piece thought it was really good.  Several people thought it would be even better with either a cherry or blueberry topping (well, yeah - duh!!).  The most important opinion I wanted to hear was my husband's.  He thought it was really good, but didn't like the lemon zest in it.  I really thought about omitting that and I think I will the next time I make the cake.  But, overall, I do think we have a winner on our hands (of course, I still haven't tasted it yet).