Cookbook:Vancouver Cheesecake

Cookbook | Ingredients | Recipes

| North American Cuisines | Canadian Cuisine |  Desserts

Vancouver Cheesecake is a light, baked cheesecake variant, which uses no crust. It is typically served chilled with fresh berries and a warmed sauce.

Ingredients

Cake

• 500 ml cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 125 ml ricotta cheese
• 6 large eggs
• 250 ml whipping cream
• 80 ml white sugar
• 5 ml of lemon juice
• 1 vanilla bean, or 10 ml of pure vanilla extract

Sauce

• 250 ml of fresh, cleaned raspberries
• 125 ml water
• 60 ml brown sugar
• 30 ml rum

Additionally, raspberries should be served with the cake.

Procedure

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 160°C
2. Beat the cream cheese and ricotta together until smooth, continue beating as you mix in the sugar, then the eggs.
3. Slowly beat in the whipping cream
4. Add lemon juice.
5. To add the bean, using a sharp knife, slice down the length of the bean, peal open and scrape down the bean to collect the contents. Using a spatula or second knife, scrape the contents of the bean into the mixture. Fold in.
6. Pour into large baking pan, or series of loaf pans.
7. Bake at 150°C for 45 minutes or so, slightly less time in loaf pans. The cake should still be jelly-like in the centre when done. Remove and allow to cool, then refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours.

Sauce

1. Puree raspberries and strain through cheese cloth into a saucepan.
2. Place berry mix on burner at medium, add water. Stir occasionally.
3. When warm, stir in sugar and your rum of choice, turn burner to high. Increase stirring rate.
4. After sauce has reached a boil, turn down to a low-medium range and allow to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring constantly. Then remove from burner and allow to cool.

Slice, sprinkle berries and drizzle on sauce, serve.

Notes, tips, and variations

• Store sauce in an air-tight container in the fridge. Can last for up to two weeks, heat before serving.
• If not planning to serve in 3 days, store cake in a freezer, in an air-tight container which will not pop open. Cake should last two weeks if properly stored.
• To ensure quality cheesecake, be certain the ricotta and cream cheese mix is absolutely smooth prior to continuing on to the next step.
• Of course, the cake can be served without berries, or sauce, but can also be served with berries other than the raspberries used in the recipe as well as an alternative sauce.
• This cheesecake can also be served on a crust, as with more traditional recipes, this is however contrary to the Vancouver-style of cheesecake.