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Cheesecake can be made in so many different ways, and yet it seems that most recipes gravitate towards ultra-rich, dense, heavy versions of the dessert.
I was flipping through a cookbook – the gigantic and exceptionally well illustrated Ultimate Healthy Eating Cookbook, which I acquired some time ago at a used bookshop – when I was struck by the gorgeous photo of this dessert. I decided to go for it because (1) it required few, ordinary ingredients (2) I had blackberries in the freezer and (3) I had time. Besides, I’ve always wondered if it actually worked to use cottage cheese in a cheesecake.
Well, it does work. The cake was lovely – very light with a texture (mouthfeel) that reminded me very much of ricotta cheese. It was very easy and is very low in fat, so I would certainly be willing to try out some variations in the future. It wasn’t a particularly sweet cake, so make sure your berries are sweet. I’m thinking it would be great with an apple topping, like Angela‘s Apple topped Cheesecake.
I added a pinch of salt to the original recipe, but didn’t change it much beyond that. I baked it according to the recipe’s instructions. My cake wasn’t browned like the photo in the cookbook, but that’s a small point to quibble over- especially because it looked beautiful just as it was.
Cottage Cheese Cheesecake
3/4 cup cottage cheese
2/3 cup low fat plain yogurt
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 egg white
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
1 1/2 – 2 cups blackberries (or other fruit)
Grease and line a 7″ round cake pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350F.
Whizz cottage cheese in food processor until smooth.
Whisk together cottage cheese, yogurt, flour, sugar, salt and eggs until well combined. Add zest and lemon juice and stir well.
Pour batter into prepared tin and bake 30-40 minutes, until just set.
Let cool at least 30 minutes. Serve hot or chilled.
Serves 5-6.
I found it odd that the cookbook actually directed that the cake be served warm/hot rather than chilled. I tried this cake at room temperature, as well as hot and chilled. Chilled was my personal favorite, but it was also quite good when warmed in the microwave (yes, warm cheesecake is the breakfast of champions). The texture was not quite as good at room temperature, so try to heat it or cool it before consuming.
Nadine
March 11, 2005i never thought cottage cheese would be good in a cake, but i must be wrong because that looks super tasty!
Nic
March 11, 2005Yeah, I was surprised, too. After I made Clotilde’s Cornmeal/Broccoli cake, though, I realised that cottage cheese actually melts pretty well! I suspect that using fat free cottage cheese might make the cake a touch grainy, since it doesn’t melt as well as regular.
T
March 12, 2005this sounds great! i love blackberries and usually always have cottage cheese on hand- ill have to try this out one day (though perhaps using low fat cottage cheese? it sounds like nonfat doesnt work as well)
Nic
March 12, 2005Tanvi – I think it’ll work fine with lowfat cottage cheese. Nonfat will work, just don’t expect it to get quite as creamy as regular or lowfat. Still tasty, though!
Dreska
March 16, 2005This looks heavenly! I like the idea of a low-fat cheescake.
delia
September 19, 2006hi nic,
when do u add in the blackberries(or other fruits)? if using other fruits, do we need to chop them up?
mei
October 14, 2008hi,
can i use the same recipe for cream cheese cheesecake (substituting the 3/4 cottage cheese with same amount of low fat cream cheese)? i wanna try to make a ‘healthier’ cheesecake =)
thanks!
mei
Lan
July 7, 2009hello. i was wondering if you used a springfoam pan for this? if not, how was it getting the cake out of the pan?
Vangelis
September 26, 2009Hello I was wondering when and how do you add the blackberries?? Unfortunately it doesn’t say that in the recipe..
Pinar
November 24, 2011I tried this recipe. The last time I baked it, I added cinnamon biscuit and nut layer to the bottom, and some blueberries to the top for decoration. (Yes, I did bake it many times, It’s my favourite recipe!) Hehe I had to compensate low- fat cheese and low-fat yogurt somehow. I find the taste rather sour with low fat ingredients. Maybe if you try that way, you might want to reduce the lemon juice instead of adding calories with butter and biscuit layers to sweeten. I also used jarred berries, maybe its juice also made it little bit sour. My cake was not brown either. But I love, love, love it. Thanks =)
beggs
January 7, 2012This recipe is a disaster. It came out as flat as a pancacke and tasted gross. I meaured the ingredients exactly. I want a high cheesecake (at least 5 cm high) not a cheese pancake! lol
Lau (Corridor Kitchen)
November 12, 2012I tried this recipe and I was pretty impressed. I used a half-sized cake pan, which made the cheesecake taller. I also made a few other changes – added a biscuit base, increased the sugar, ditched the lemon juice and I only used one egg. In place of flour, I used almond meal. I also used flavoured yogurt instea dof plain, as that was what I had on hand. Most of those changes were made based on what I had at home. I will make it again for sure, would love to try different flavours.
Sonal
April 15, 2014This is such an amazing recipe. Lighter and healthier for sure. I might give it a try with strawberries. Thanks you so much for sharing.
Sally
February 1, 2018Just baked this! Used fresh peaches off the tree in the front yard. Laid the segments of fruit around in a spial, looks very pretty. About to devour it with my neighbours! Yum!