French Vanilla Cheesecake Recipes

Steps:

• Yogurt Cheese.
• Wrap Yogurt in cheesecloth and inverting over an open container. Place in refrigerator overnight and excess water in the yogurt will drip to the bottom of the container. The remaining yogurt cheese will be richer and creamier. (You could probably just use yogurt as well).
• Cheesecake.
• Preheat Oven to 325 degrees. Lightly coat a 10in. spring form pan with canola oil.
• In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and applesauce. Mix well.
• Press into the bottom of spring form pan and set aside.
• Bring 1 cup water to a boil in a small saucpan. Add vanilla bean and simmer until softened, about 1 minute.
• Remove from water and when cool enough to handle, slit bean lengthwise. Scrape out vanilla bean paste with a knife and reserve.
• In a blender container, puree cottage cheese until smooth.
• In a mixing bowl, combine pureed cottage cheese, cream cheese, and yogurt cheese and blend with electric mixer on high until smooth, about 2 minute.
• Add eggs, one at a time and blend well.
• Add flour, sugar, vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract.
• Blend well and pour into crust.
• Bake for 40 minute
• Turn off oven and allow cheesecake to cool in oven an additional 30 minute.
• Remove from oven and let rest for 20 minute before refrigerating.
• In a medium saucepan, combine cherries and sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until sugar is dissolved and cherries begin to break down, about 10 minute You may need to add a little water to keep from scorching.
• When cheesecake is cold, remove spring form sides and slice into 16 portions. Serve 1 tablespoons of cherries over cheesecake.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a bowl until well combined.
• Cream together white sugar and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in egg yolks and beat until incorporated. Add in whole eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat mixture on medium-high speed until very fluffy, and mixture has lightened in color, 3 to 5 minutes more.
• Slice vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Use the back of a knife to scrape seeds out of both halves, and add seeds to the butter mixture. Set vanilla bean pod aside to use for the frosting. Mix vanilla bean seeds into the butter mixture on low speed until incorporated.
• Add vanilla and almond extracts to the batter and mix on low speed until incorporated. Pour in half of the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add milk and sour cream and mix until combined. Pour in remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Divide batter evenly between the cake pans and smooth into even layers.
• Place pans into the preheated oven and bake until centers of the cakes spring back lightly when touched, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and allow cakes to cool in pans for 15 minutes before running a knife carefully around the edges of the pans to loosen. Transfer cakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
• While cakes are in the oven, begin making the frosting. Add reserved vanilla bean pod to a small saucepan and pour in heavy cream. Place pan over low heat and cook until mixture is just warm, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and allow mixture to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before placing into the refrigerator until chilled, about 30 minutes more.
• When heavy cream mixture is chilled, finish the frosting. Place 1 cup butter into a large bowl and beat on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Mix in powdered sugar gradually, 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
• Remove vanilla bean pod from chilled heavy cream. Discard vanilla bean pod. Pour heavy cream into the butter-powdered sugar mixture. Add in vanilla extract and salt. Beat mixture on low speed until cream is incorporated, then turn mixer speed up to medium-high and continue to beat until frosting is light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes more.
• Pipe a layer of frosting to the top of one of the cakes and set 2nd cake on top. Frost cake as desired with remaining frosting.

Steps:

• To make the crust: Butter a 9-inch springform pan - choose one that has sides that are 2 3/4 inches high (if the sides are lower, you will have cheesecake batter left over) - and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil.
• Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. (I do this with my fingers.) Turn the ingredients into the springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Don't worry if the sides are not perfectly even or if the crumbs reach above or below the midway point on the sides. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the over. (The crust can be covered and frozen for up to 2 months.)
• Center a rack in the over, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.
• To make the cheesecake: Put a kettle of water on to boil.
• Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is soft and creamy, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat for another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs, one by one, beating for 1 full minute after each addition - you want a well-aerated batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.
• Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in a roasting pan that is large enough to hold the pan with some space around it.
• Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure that nothing has been left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape the batter into the springform pan. The batter will reach the rim of the pan. (If you have a pan with lower sides and have leftover batter, you can bake the batter in a buttered ramekin or small soufflé mold.) Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
• Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour 30 minutes, at which point the top will be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven's heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.
• After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster - be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminum foil - and remove the foil. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.
• When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, although overnight is better.
• At serving time, remove the sides of the springform pan - you can use a hairdryer to do this - and set the cake on a serving platter.

Steps:

• Butter and line a 23cm loose-bottomed tin with baking parchment. Put the digestive biscuits in a plastic food bag and crush to crumbs using a rolling pin - or blitz in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl, then pour over the melted butter. Mix thoroughly until the crumbs are completely coated. Tip them into the prepared tin and press firmly down into the base to create an even layer. Chill in the fridge for 1 hr to set firmly.
• To remove the vanilla seeds from their pod, slice the pod in half lengthways, leaving the tip intact, so that the two halves are still joined. Holding onto the tip of the pod, scrape out the seeds using the back of a kitchen knife.
• To make the filling, place the soft cheese, icing sugar and vanilla seeds in a bowl, then beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Tip in the double cream and continue beating until the mixture is completely combined. Now spoon it onto the biscuit base, working from the edges inwards and making sure that there are no air bubbles. Smooth the top of the cheesecake down with the back of a dessert spoon or spatula. Leave to set in the fridge overnight.
• Bring the cheesecake to room temperature about 30 mins before serving. To un-mould, place the base on top of a can, then gradually pull the sides of the tin down. Slip the cake onto a serving plate, removing the lining paper and base. Slice and serve with a fruit compote of your choice.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Mix wafer crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.
• Beat 3 pkg. cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp. vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.
• Bake 50 to 55 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool completely in pan.
• Beat remaining cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with mixer in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in COOL WHIP; spread over cheesecake. Refrigerate 4 hours. Remove rim of pan before serving cheesecake.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and the double creme, then add the sugar and flour and beat until thoroughly blended.
• Stir in the egg yolks, sour cream, heavy cream and vanilla.
• Beat the egg whites until they are frothy, then gradually add the confectioners' sugar and beat until the whites form stiff peaks.
• Fold the whites into the cheese mixture.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared crust and bake for 45 minutes, or until the center is firm.
• Cool to room temperature, then chill before serving.