Cheesecakes - general principles and methods of preparation
Some call them cottage cheese, which is logical, because they are made from cottage cheese. But many more familiar word - cheesecakes. Yes, it was cheese that was called in the old days ordinary cottage cheese. And only when hard cheeses from France, Holland, Germany began to appear in Russia, there was a division. From now on, rennet cheese was called cheese, and a mass made from milk and simple sourdough was called cottage cheese. From which you can cook various dishes, including the well-known cheesecakes.
They necessarily include eggs, sugar, flour or semolina, and additional ingredients that complement and enrich the taste - apples, pears, dried apricots, raisins, vanilla, mint, nuts. Cottage cheese can be either sweet or savory. They are often fried in oil, but they can also be steamed or baked in the oven. Sweet cheesecakes are eaten with the addition of sour cream, jam, condensed milk. Unsweetened watered sour cream, ketchup, mayonnaise.
Cheesecakes - product preparation
In order to cook delicious cheesecakes, greatly soured cottage cheese is not suitable, you should use high-quality raw materials. To make them tender and airy, you need to pass the cottage cheese through a meat grinder, rub through a sieve or grind with a blender, and then add eggs, sugar and flour. If the cottage cheese is too dry, you can soften the mass and make it more elastic by adding a little milk, sour cream or kefir.
Cheesecakes - the best recipes
Recipe 1: Classic Cheesecakes
A very simple recipe for delicious syrniki. Cottage cheese, eggs, flour, plus a little effort and a delicious breakfast on the table. Some love cheese cakes on semolina, they turn out more magnificent. Want to try it too? You are welcome! The ingredients are the same, only replace the flour with three tablespoons of semolina. Let the dough brew for about half an hour, so that the semolina is swollen and can be fried. Ready cheesecakes are poured with sour cream, jam, yogurt, sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Ingredients: cottage cheese - 0.4-0.5 kg, 2 eggs, 100 g of flour in the dough + for powder, 4 table. l sugar, a pinch of salt, vanilla sugar - 1 packet, for roasting - ghee or half vegetable + cream.
Cooking method
Mash the cottage cheese with a fork, and even better with a blender. Add eggs. Some prefer to add only the yolks, then instead of two eggs you need to take three yolks. Add sugar, vanilla, salt, flour and mix very well.
Scoop the curd dough with a tablespoon and put on a table sprinkled with a small amount of flour. Roll the cottage cheese pancakes, give it a pancake shape and fry in hot oil. Close the lid of the pan. Syrniki fry on low heat, waiting for a golden crust, then turn over.
Recipe 2: Cheesecakes Without Eggs
Unfortunately, some people are allergic to eggs, and almost all baked goods and sweet flour products are made with eggs. This recipe for such a sweet tooth will be very handy. Remember that cheese cakes do not fall apart, do not use too wet cottage cheese. If you have such a juicy cottage cheese, before sculpting cheesecakes, let the liquid drain through cheesecloth or colander, placing a small load on top.
Ingredients: half a pound of cottage cheese, 4-5 table. lies. flour, a couple of spoons of raisins (optional), 3 tables. tablespoons of sugar, a pinch of salt, roasting oil, sour cream.
Cooking method
Mix cottage cheese with sugar, raisins (previously steamed in boiling water), salt and flour. If you wish, add a pinch of soda for splendor, but you can do without it. Form cheese pancakes and fry them to a crust on both sides. When frying the pan, cover with a lid so that they bake. You can fry without a lid, then after you have to bring them in the oven until tender for another ten minutes.
Recipe 3: Cheesecakes in the Oven
Cheesecakes in the oven - a diet dish, because they are cooked practically without oil (only the form is lubricated). You can bake products, laying out on a baking sheet, or fill out dough muffin molds. You get such little curd muffins. The recipe includes both semolina and flour, if the curd is dry, you can only cook on flour. If too wet, you need to mix it with semolina, let stand for about an hour, and then mix the remaining components. If desired, add vanilla sugar.
Ingredients: Cottage cheese - 2 packs (400g), 2 table. lies. semolina, 4-5 table. lies. flour, egg, 3-4 table. lies. sugar, 1 tea lies. baking powder (if you cook for children, it is better not to), sour cream.
Cooking method
Mix cottage cheese with semolina, eggs, sugar and knead the dough, adding flour with baking powder. If you put more flour than the prescription, it will be much easier to sculpt. But the syrniki themselves will turn out to be too dense, "rubber", so there is no need to overdo it with flour.
The curd mass sticks to your hands, so it’s difficult to roll balls out of it. It is better to pinch off a piece of dough, roll it in flour, shake off the excess, and blind the syrniki. Place on a baking sheet, which must be greased with oil. You can still line it with paper (it will be easier to wash the baking sheet). Now, attention! Each cheesecake is thickly coated with sour cream and can be baked. They prepare for about half an hour at 180C. You can serve in a vase like cookies or pour sour cream on a plate like ordinary cheesecakes.
Recipe 4: Unsweetened Cheesecakes
Few people know that cheesecakes are not only sweet. They can also be prepared with the addition of salt, herbs or vegetables. The proposed recipe is just from this section. Greens can add any, to your taste - fresh dill, green onions, as well as spices. Even a clove of chopped garlic can be mixed.
Ingredients: low-fat cottage cheese (you can generally 0%) - 500g, 2 eggs, 60-80g of hard cheese or feta cheese, 2 tables. l flour, salt, spices, fresh or dried herbs, for frying vegetable oil.
Cooking method
Beat eggs lightly. It is not necessary to take a mixer, an ordinary plug is suitable. Finely grate hard cheese. Mix everything with cottage cheese. To salt. Pour in flour, add chopped herbs and your favorite spices, if you wish. Mix the mass with a spoon and mold the cheese cakes. It is done like this. A little flour is poured on the table, the curd is laid out with a spoon, crumbled in the flour, and slightly pressed on top. Fry to the crust with the lid closed, making a low heat. First, on the one hand, three to five minutes, then on the other. Serve with mayonnaise, sour cream.
Recipe 5: Lviv Cheesecake
Whatever they say, this is not a cheesecake or cake, it is a real cheesecake. Only big. Of course, it can be made in the form of small cheesecakes of a familiar shape. But it is better to let it be traditionally rectangular, such as a bar of gold doused with chocolate glaze. Galicia is famous for its confectionery, so you can not worry about the taste. It is incredibly delicious. Highly. He is especially good with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. There are many variations of its preparation, so do not be surprised that the proposed recipe is not quite similar to the one you heard about. The main thing is that the main components of all recipes are the same. If you want a yellowish color, add a teaspoon of saffron or turmeric into the dough.
Ingredients: fat cottage cheese - 0.5 kg, half a glass of sugar, 4 eggs, 100 g of butter, zest of one lemon, nuts and raisins (optional), 1 table. l semolina, vanilla sugar - a bag. Glaze: 3 tables. l milk (or sour cream) and sugar, 30-50g of butter, 2 tables. lies. cocoa.
Cooking method
Rub the cottage cheese through a colander, sieve, or mix with a blender. The main thing is that it should not be too wet, otherwise the baked dough will turn out not airy, but dense.
Separate the yolks, beat with a sugar mixer. Squirrels are also useful, but later. Add grated zest, semolina, cottage cheese and softened butter. Turn on the mixer at low speed and mix the dough. Beat the whites in a foam and mix with the curd. Mix the dough gently so that the proteins do not settle, using a spoon. Add soaked raisins (optional).
Prepare the baking dish: put it with parchment or grease it, and powder it with flour on top. Bake cheesecake for about 50-60 minutes at 180C. He can bake a little earlier, you need to focus on your oven. It is necessary to remove the cheesecake from the mold when it has completely cooled down.
Cook the icing. Melt the butter, mix with sugar until it is completely dissolved. Add milk or sour cream and cocoa. Boil for a couple of minutes and turn it off. Pour the cooled syrniki with hot glaze, distribute it evenly with a spoon over the entire surface, and on the sides too. Allow the finished product to stand, it is better all night, at least five hours, and then serve.
Cheesecakes - useful tips from experienced chefs
-To cheesecakes brighten and bake, fry them on low heat, but in previously well-heated oil.
- To make cheesecakes more aromatic, they should add fresh chopped leaves of currant or mint.
- So that cheesecakes do not burn, you should not spare oil for frying. It needs to be poured so much that the cottage cheese almost swam in it.
- If you want to get a completely dietary dish, cheesecakes should not be fried, but baked in the oven without oil in silicone molds, so as not to burn.
