Baking Soda or Powder in my Cheesecake?

[rdcast]

actually the japanese cheesecake makes an emulsified slurry out of cornstarch and eggs for a really smooooth finish.almost plastic looking but it holds well!

My fav cheesecake is polish made with potato mmm

PS ALWAYS make cheesecake with room temp cheese.

is there a web link I can access to find out more about this plastic looking cheesecake, I might be interested.

And what is this potato? Potato starch ??

 

[Chef_Jen]

no potato real grated potato

 

[rdcast]

no potato real grated potato

YAY !!! Congrats, you reached 300 posts

The potato thingy sounds like a "poor man's recipe", interesting. Ppotatoes are so versatile. Thank God for them.

 

[rdcast]

OOPSY DOOPSY Ness, mah wife came home and said mah cheesecake with the baking soda was no good She has this uncanny ability to change my most closely held opinions so I must recant mah indorsement of mah own cheesecake. How embarrassing. Please do not spend time or money on mah current findings concerning "baking soda" as a cheesecake ingredient. Sorry.

All the best,
Robert

 

[KeyLimePaige]

boy am i glad somebody asked this question. i was wondering the same thing the other day in the grocery store.

the only case in point i can think of is using baking soda instead of baking powder made sugarcookies like shortbread cookies.
ugh.

-p

 

[Chef_Jen]

Thank your wife for me..... is that all it took for you to change your mind LOL

 

[rdcast]

boy am i glad somebody asked this question. i was wondering the same thing the other day in the grocery store.

the only case in point i can think of is using baking soda instead of baking powder made sugarcookies like shortbread cookies.
ugh.

-p

Paige, should we form "The Flour Brigade"

 

[rdcast]

Thank your wife for me..... is that all it took for you to change your mind LOL

I owe her big time. Believe me, it's the least I could do. Not to mention, shes an evil femme fatale, jk haha

I'm out of the house all day today

 

[philso]

if you want to lighten up your cheesecake, instead of the baking powder or soda, try these:

- beat your cream cheese in your kitchenaid or with a mixer. having it at room temperature from the beginning will help. you can probably mix it for at least 10 or 15 minute. the consistency can get to nearly marshmallow-fluff-like.

- separate your eggs. you can beat the yolks with some of the sugar (2 1/2 c sounds like too much for just 5 yolks though) over hot water (or directly over the flame if you're careful) until it increases about 3 or 4 times in volume. it'll be a very pale yellow and will come off of a wooden spoon in a fairly wide ribbon, taking a few seconds to settle.

- whip your whites till they form soft peaks, not stiff. if you beat them till they're stiff, the bubbles will expand & burst when cooked, deflating the cake.

- sift your flour 3 times

put your cake together the way you would a geniose, alternately folding in the ingredients. i've never tried whipping up sour cream or ricotta. you might add it to the cream cheese after it's fluffy and whip it some more. or try whipping them separately. or not at all and just fold them into the whipped cream cheese. the lemon juice and vanilla you might want to add directly to the cream cheese when whipping. it'll be even softer and you won't have to fold them in separately later and loose a little volume.

 

[rdcast]

The one thing I'm afraid of Philso, is that soufflé style bubbles will always collapse as the air in them begins to cool due to the sheer weight of the immensely dense cheesecake ingredients. Is this a tried and true procedure for cheesecakes. I ask only because I've tried whipping the egg whites before, resulting in dramatic deflation. Reassure me of the results and I'll certainly try it.

 

[philso]

sorry rdcast, i, like most people, like a nice dense cheesecake and have never tried to make a light, fluffy one. however, as an ex-chef of over 15 years experience, i can virtually assure you that if you aerate your cream cheese well and are careful not to overwhip the eggs, you should have no problems getting the light (for a cheesecake) results you want.

that said, the sour cream and ricotta will be detracting from the lightness. i also think you could ease up on the flour; most recipes do with just a few tablespoons. however, now we're talking about how i would like a cheesecake. also, we are talking about cheescake: it'll never approach the consistency of say, italian meringue. that said, i think you can safely go for it.

also, anyone who would try using baking powder in cheese is obviously open to experimentation, so...

entering the world of wild speculation, you might try coming at this from another approach. a creamcheese cake. start off with a geniose or sponge cake batter and then fold in well-beaten creamcheese that has been further aerified with some softly whipped egg whites folded in. you'd probably have to settle for a more shallow cake, but the results might be good. you'll never know unless you try!

 

[rdcast]

Your thoughts on sour cream and ricotta are interesting. I find any amount of aeration results in excessive collapse. Can you explain why the eggs shouldn't be whipped ?

All the best,
Robert

 

[philso]

the eggs should be whipped, but only to the soft-peak stage. if you beat them to the stiff-peak stage, the bubbles are at the limit of how much air they can hold. imagine a balloon blown up to the limit. the slightest bit more air and it will burst because the rubber can stretch no further. stiff whites are essentially similar. take those air bubbles and put them in the oven, and when the air within gets hot and expands... pop! beating your eggs to a soft peak will allow them to expand in the oven without popping.

 

[rdcast]

Now that's interesting tho cheesecake is unique in the weight of it's ingredients. This weight forces most bubbles to the top just under the developing dome created by airpressure. As it cools the bubbles are released from the cake allowing the dome to collapse into the characteristic crater. Unfortunately, air is air and will create this phenomena irregardless.