Friday, May 9, 2008

Goat Cheese Cake with Berries


One of my greatest pleasures is slowly mulling through my cookbooks and all those stacks of recipes rescued from magazines and newspapers of another time, finding inspiration again and again. Even greater is discovering a previously unknown and absolutely fabulous recipe in my midst. Today's incredible treasure is this Goat Cheese Cake from Emily Luchetti.

Have you ever wanted to eat a piece of cheesecake without feeling like you’ve just eaten a piece of cheesecake? This is your dessert. The recipe calls for goat cheese without the usual addition of cream cheese, so it's quite a different experience. Because goat cheese has a lower fat content and is a pure product without any gums or emulsifiers, it brings an incredible lightness to this beautiful dessert. That lightness is also emphasized by the addition of whipped egg whites gently folded into the batter. The slight tang is balanced by the sugar and rounded out by a bit of lemon juice and zest and the lovely perfume of vanilla. The cake tastes bright, fresh and absolutely delectable. The texture is bolstered by 3 tablespoons of flour that give it just enough body to allow a wonderful comparison to a New York Cheesecake, yet there is no fatty taste or heaviness left behind. I could go on and on. Are you with me?

The preparation is easy and quick and it’s ready in under an hour. Try this for your next dinner party or celebration and you will be amazed by the results. Thank you, Emily Luchetti!



Bench notes:
- Bring the goat cheese or chévre to room temperature to ensure an easy and complete combining of ingredients. Eggs must also be at room temp.
- I served this with blackberries that I sprinkled with sugar, a bit of Crème de Cassis and an equal splash of lemon juice to taste. Really delicious.
- This cake will keep for a few days, but the texture changes dramatically. When eaten fresh, it has a very light and airy texture. After refrigeration, it becomes more dense.
- I used an 8" cake pan because I wanted more height for presentation. It baked in 25 minutes in my hot oven.



Goat Cheese Cake with Berries
adapted from Classic Stars Desserts Emily Luchetti
Serves 8 to 10

Butter and granulated sugar for the cake pan
11 ounces fresh goat cheese @ room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
6 large eggs @ room temperature, separated
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 pint blackberries
sugar, to taste
lemon juice, to taste
Crème de Cassis, to taste (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9-inch round cake pan with butter and dust it thoroughly with granulated sugar. Tap out the excess.

Mix the goat cheese, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice with the paddle attachment and beat until smooth. Add the egg yolks two at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in the flour and mix until incorporated.

Place the egg whites in a clean bowl and whip to soft peak. Gently fold the egg whites into the goat cheese mixture with a spatula. Be careful not to overmix or you will deflate the batter. Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Let cool to room temperature.

Toss the berries with sugar and lemon juice (and Crème de Cassis, if using), to taste.

Run a thin knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake and turn out onto a platter. Go ahead and swoon.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

'Have you ever wanted to eat a piece of cheesecake without feeling like you’ve just eaten a piece of cheesecake?"
What a fantastic sentence! I feel like that about a lot of foods.

Anonymous said...

THIS would be nice for you to fix for my birthday. *g*

OhEss

pastry studio said...

OhEss, yes indeed! Anytime at all!

Hey Aaron, you do know what I'm talking about!

Anonymous said...

This looks delicious! Do you think it would be good with a crust, like graham cracker?

Anonymous said...

oooh i've never heard of goats cheese cake before! looks amazing.

test it comm said...

That looks good!! I like the sound of a goat cheese cheesecake.

pastry studio said...

I don't think it would benefit from a graham cracker crust because it doesn't have that same creamy fat on the palate thing going on. If you want that sort of texture contrast, you can serve a shortbread cookie, lemon sablé or ginger snap along with the cake and the fruit.

Cannelle Et Vanille said...

Gayle this loooks completely delicious, like a big goat cheese angel food cake! I love the idea of a cheesecake with whipped egg whites, perfect with the berries. The goat cheese alone will do it and it doesn't need anything else. Beautiful!

Unknown said...

It's even better when you eat it!

:-)

Yummm, thanks Auntie.

Besos,
gonz

pastry studio said...

Hey Chris! XOXO.

Anonymous said...

Very, VERY nice!

Eileen (passions to pastry)@
www.livingtastefully.com

Victoria said...

Oh, your blog is so beautiful. I am totally bewitched. I cannot wait to send a link to my friend who is a pastry chef. I'm happy to make your acquaintance and look forward to getting to know you.

Y said...

That cake looks so light, from the pictures alone. I like the idea of pairing it with blackberries.

pastry studio said...

Victoria, thanks so much for your kind words. I loved visiting your blog. Your writing is fun and I'll be returning to see what sorts of adventures you're up to.

Same to you, y!

RecipeGirl said...

I know exactly the feeling of going through the loads and loads of recipe files that I've collected. I discover something new every time (and sometimes it's from YEARS ago!)

I'm a big cheesecake fan and I'm a goat cheese fan too. This looks like a keeper.

Mama Mia said...

everything you make always looks so amazing!!!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I do love goat cheese, who would have thought it would make a droolworthy cheesecake:D

Anonymous said...

i must tell everyone that i was fortunate enough to be in the presence of that lovely cheesecake in the photo shoot. i swear that was the best damn cheesecake i've ever had. and i'm from new york... :pastry studio is THE BOMB.

pastry studio said...

Hey, YOU! Thanks for the vote of confidence. You're the best taster evah!

Anonymous said...

No joke, this was my wedding cake. :-) Two layers of it w/ raspberry spread in the middle and dark chocolate wrapping around the sides, plus dark chocolate shavings on the top.

Danielle said...

This looks excellent! As a hardcore Cheesecake lover and an American living in France, I'm super excited to try this recipe! Cream Cheese does not exist in France and usually I have to experiment with a mix of 5 different cheeses to get that unique cream cheese texture... In any case, I'm sure my french friends will love it! I'll let you know how it turns out! BTW, I'm assuming you removed the rind of the cheese before softening and mixing?

pastry studio said...

Hi Danielle. Actually, this recipe calls for soft goat cheese or chevre. It has no rind and looks like a spreadable cheese. Hope you and your friends enjoy it!

IbtissamSally said...

Hi! Your blog looks great. Thanks for posting this recipe. I'm planning on trying it for Christmas in a few days for my family. Quick question, though - do you think that I could use a 9-in. glass Pyrex dish instead of a 9-in. cake pan? Would that ruin the recipe? Thanks and Happy Holidays to you!

kimberly said...

I have now made this wonderful Goat Cheese cake twice. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!! I can't recommend this recipe enough. It's easy, smells fantastic, and taste great, my mouth is watering just looking at your photos again. No more cheese cake for me, THIS is the one!!!

The blue cheese cookies with fig jam were wonderful, too. Have really enjoyed your blog. I'm not generally a cook, but your beautiful presentations have been an encouragement. Thanks again!

pastry studio said...

Wowie, Anonymous - what a fun wedding cake for you!

Oh my goodness, Carissa, I didn't realize that I never responded to your question. I'm so sorry! FYI-glass conducts heat better than metal, so baking time is likely to be a bit shorter. Also, the pan should be at least 2" high, so it can't be a pie plate and a 9" square pyrex baking dish holds more volume than a 9" round cake pan, so the cake will not be as high. So I don't really recommend using those types of pans for baking this cake.

Thank you for you feedback, kimberly! I agree, this is an amazing version of cheesecake and I can't imagine making any other kind.

It's really terrific for me to know that I am encouraging time well spent in the kitchen, so thanks so very much for taking the time to leave me your sweet comments. I hope you'll continue to enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Anonymous said...

Is it possible to make an amaretto cheesecake with this or would the flavors not work together?

pastry studio said...

Anonymous, I'm not sure about the addition of amaretto. The flavor of the cheesecake is very light and subtle but perhaps you can try it and let me know how it turns out. I think it might work and would love to hear if you try it.

Bruce said...

Thanks for a great blog
Chocolate Cheese cake

dlalden said...

I made this last night for a book club meeting and everyone loved it. It looked beautiful too. I'm wondering if you could use rice flour instead of AP to make it gluten-free?

pastry studio said...

dlalden, this is such a terrific cheesecake and I'm so pleased you enjoyed it as much as I do. I haven't tested it with any other flour substitution, but since it's such a small amount, it just might work. Please do let me know if you try it!