The great English cheesecake mystery! How is it that an American cheesecake is firm, dry and utterly delectable and English ones leak all over the place and make the base soggy? We tried many recipes with lots of different cheeses, and always with the same result.
This summer, I came across Junior’s cheesecake book in Borders, and felt inspired to try again. There was one huge problem with the recipe – Graham crackers. They’re available from a few places, but outrageously expensive at c. $8 a box. I decided to hunt for an alternative. Firstly, the usual substitute Digestive biscuits were out, they’re not crispy enough. After some research, I came up with the idea of using Speculoos or those little German/Dutch/Belgian spiced, caramelised biscuits that come with coffee. They’re readily available and 99p a packet. I set off for the supermarket armed with an iPhone for weight conversions, and then set about testing the recipe.
Result, one big, tasty cheesecake with no soggy base! There was still fluid leaking out the bottom, but there was no problem with soggy biccies this time. The biscuit base was excellent, just enough spice and a bit of crunch to make the base interesting but not obtrusive.
Brilliant, but that still doesn’t explain why US cheesecakes aren’t soggy at all? I investigated Neuchatel cream cheese, and the difference between Neuchatel and English cream cheese was huge. Neuchatel is almost solid, with no liquid oozing out of the cheese at all. Aha, so the thickening agents in cream cheese create dry cheesecakes! Mystery solved! Junior’s recipe included cornflour, which absorbed a lot of the liquid.
So here are my conclusions from the great cheesecake mystery:
- If you need a Graham cracker substitute in Europe, then use Lotus biscuits instead http://www.lotusbakeries.com/ (Or try them in the US, but be warned they’re not cheap.)
- American cream cheese is a totally different texture to the UK variety, much much thicker, which brings me onto point 3
- Junior’s cheesecake recipe includes 1/4 cup of cornflour, important for making cheesecakes in the UK. I haven’t experimented with this further yet, it’ll have to wait till I’m home next. http://www.amazon.com/Juniors-Cheesecake-Cookbook-Die-York-Style/dp/1561588806
