:`(
Damn quark is $6 for 500g every where I’ve looked.
In the US, cheesecake should be made with good ricotta, like Calabro or Trader Joe’s brand.
It is easy to make homemade ricotta from milk. The result should be very very similar to quark:
-
Heat 1.5 gallons of milk (NOT ultra-pasteurized; it won’t curdle properly) plus 1 teaspoon salt in a Dutch oven, stirring frequently till it reaches 185 degrees. Remove from heat.
-
Slowly stir in 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice for about 15 seconds. Let stand for 5 minutes. You’re waiting for it to separate into solid white curds and translucent whey. If whey is still milky/opaque, gently stir in 2 more tablespoons lemon juice, wait 5 minutes, etc. You should need juice from about 6-7 lemons, but it varies according to their acidity etc.
-
Once the curds have formed, let the pot rest 20 minutes. Then, strain out the whey by gentling ladling curds into colander (lined with cheesecloth) or fine-mesh strainer. Handle the curds as gently as possible, fold them over themselves till no more liquid runs out.
Although I’ve never had quark (and actually thought Fatty was making it up as a joke when I first read the word), Wikipedia says it is a “fresh cheese…made by warming soured milk until the desired degree of denaturation of milk proteins and then strained.” Which is what the above recipe for homemade ricotta is, with the souring accomplished and controlled by lemon juice. If you want the best flavor, experiment with different brands of milk. I buy organic milk in waxed cartons, because it tastes much cleaner, sweeter, and fresher than regular milk in plastic jugs. Broguire’s milk, in glass jugs, is incredibly delicious, though expensive.
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
[quote]FattyFat wrote:
I’ve mailed my recipe to a few friends, just for shit and giggles. Lo and behold, they liked it - and they’re neither ‘fitness’ buffs, nor really physique-oriented.
[/quote]
Of course, the irony is that it’s called “Fatty’s Cheesecake”! ;)[/quote]
Don’t tell 'em or it’ll scare 'em off continuing munching it ;(
A friend of mine actually got back to me with a proposal for improving the recipe. She wanted to lower the protein amount and up the carbs, instead, since “protein is not good for your kidneys and will make you look fatter than you are.”
[quote]MrZsasz wrote:
[quote]London Runner wrote:
NO.
LR[/quote]
I realized that right after I typed it and went back and edited it. But it looks like my edit didn’t come through. What I did say was that Fromage Frais was close instead of Creme Frais.
I may try to do it with Greek yogurt this weekend. Still pricey but I figure I could be the tester for this one.[/quote]
So, how did it turn out?
[quote]debraD wrote:
:`(
Damn quark is $6 for 500g every where I’ve looked.[/quote]
Visit Germany, then. 
[quote]andersons wrote:
In the US, cheesecake should be made with good ricotta, like Calabro or Trader Joe’s brand.
It is easy to make homemade ricotta from milk. The result should be very very similar to quark:
-
Heat 1.5 gallons of milk (NOT ultra-pasteurized; it won’t curdle properly) plus 1 teaspoon salt in a Dutch oven, stirring frequently till it reaches 185 degrees. Remove from heat.
-
Slowly stir in 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice for about 15 seconds. Let stand for 5 minutes. You’re waiting for it to separate into solid white curds and translucent whey. If whey is still milky/opaque, gently stir in 2 more tablespoons lemon juice, wait 5 minutes, etc. You should need juice from about 6-7 lemons, but it varies according to their acidity etc.
-
Once the curds have formed, let the pot rest 20 minutes. Then, strain out the whey by gentling ladling curds into colander (lined with cheesecloth) or fine-mesh strainer. Handle the curds as gently as possible, fold them over themselves till no more liquid runs out.
Although I’ve never had quark (and actually thought Fatty was making it up as a joke when I first read the word), Wikipedia says it is a “fresh cheese…made by warming soured milk until the desired degree of denaturation of milk proteins and then strained.” Which is what the above recipe for homemade ricotta is, with the souring accomplished and controlled by lemon juice. If you want the best flavor, experiment with different brands of milk. I buy organic milk in waxed cartons, because it tastes much cleaner, sweeter, and fresher than regular milk in plastic jugs. Broguire’s milk, in glass jugs, is incredibly delicious, though expensive. [/quote]
Thanks for sharing, dude.
Damn, I’m happy to get 500g of quark for half a EUR.
[quote]FattyFat wrote:
Damn, I’m happy to get 500g of quark for half a EUR.
[/quote]
You know it man, although mine is a little more pricey.
LR
Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner!
Coffee/Toffee cheesecake.
All of the same ingredients used in my variation above, without the orange extract, but double the vanilla extract. Plus I added 3 coffee spoons of instant coffee and 5 scoops of Toffee Fudge protein, so this half size coffee/toffee cheesecake has 260g of protein, and less 60g carbs, and less the 80g fat.
LR
Anyone try to make quark themselves?
I should make more of this, especially when my internship is coming up. I’m thinking of an oatmeal pie base.
Sweet Sejenus!
That might just turn out awesome.
How about giving it a shot…right now, Tatsu?
I’ll try it this week, the wife is going away… so besides studying for exams and training this weekend, I’ll take a pause and bake me some cake!
Quick question… is the pudding mix a special low carb or low fat variety?
[quote]benmoore wrote:
Quick question… is the pudding mix a special low carb or low fat variety?[/quote]
I just got the normal Sainsburys own brand.
LR
How about an almond flour, butter and splenda base?
Sooo…nobody’s tried making it themselves then?
[quote]Fiction wrote:
Sooo…nobody’s tried making it themselves then?[/quote]
Yes they have if you read the thread.
I’ll be making some in the next week or so. Might mix up my fat loss diet with a whole day of cheesecake soon haha!
@Tatsu
Have a few links handy on that oatmeal pie base?
Brought some cheesecake to a meeting a while back, about three big slices.
At first a few guys reacted with ‘Have you fallen off the fitness wagon?’ remarks (FTR: my usual reply to ‘Do you lift weights?’, nowadays, is ‘No, why do you ask? I’m more into fitness.’; some people really are that gullible, lol).
There was a vegan ‘anti fitness (except Pilates) and protein’ gal I sold on my cheesecake.
She wanted the recipe.
I obliged and mailed it to her, along with the nutritional breakdown.
She hasn’t made it, yet (or so she says), but now and then I can catch her ogling my cheesecake.
Once, I’ve also turned a vegetarian back on track with ground turkey burgers.
Not sure if anyone has tried this, it’s not as high in protein unless you throw in a scoop of it, which should taste fine, though I haven’t tried that yet.
It’s a lazy man’s cheesecake, and if you are impatient you can freeze it and eat it (no baking)
1 packet gelatin for each container of cream cheese
1/4c to 1/2c boiling water for each packet of cream cheese (1/4c makes it creamier and not so much like gelatin)
sweetener to taste, tastes exactly like how you sweetened it after its done.
Boil water, mix gelatin, mix/beat cream cheese until it’s not lumpy, add sweetener and some vanilla extract if wanted. Refrigerate of put in freezer if you want it in half the time. about an hour in the freezer and 2-3 in the fridge.
FINALLY FOUND QUARK!!! Can’t wait to try this. I’ve been dreaming about Fatty Cheese cake since I found this thread, now to brave the great blizzard of '11 to actually go get it.
De cake is in de oven!
First I baked the oats in the oven, because else it would suck too much of the moist away. A great idea of the missus!
Now it’s waiting another 40 minutes for the result. =)
It’s pretty delicious, the oats make a fine base. Only it could be more crunchier…
But on the other hand I’m missing an important base ingredient… in Dutch they are called lange vingers, I think in English they’re called lady fingers. But they are full of sugar.
What I could try next time is to add cinnamon to oats and bake it first.
If you can’t find Quark in the US, I would try substituting mascarpone (similar texture, not as tangy) and a bit of cream cheese (for the tanginess).
Fatty,
I will try to make this and report back.
What’s the best “crunchy base” so far that’s low in carbs and fat?