Cheesecake craze continues… This one is a no bake cheesecake flavored with the season’s sweetest tangerines. Feel free to substitute oranges or lemons for tangerines and I’m sure it will be just as tasty (see variations in the recipe section). No bake cheesecakes are usually prepared with gelatin, but I took a different route by using eggs instead and cooked the filling in a bain-marie. I hope, with two cheesecake posts in a row, I have re-established my die-hard Golden Girls fan status.
Chocolate Cheesecake
Isn’t it outrageous that a food blogger who is a shameless chocoholic and a die hard Golden Girls fan does not have a chocolate cheesecake in his repertoire? As far as I’m concerned, he should have written the book on chocolate cheesecakes by now. Shame on me.
The truth of the matter is, I lack one very important ingredient here in Istanbul: cream cheese. Actually, cream cheese in Turkey refers to a cheap, artificial-looking (and tasting), savory cheese spread. For cheesecakes and desserts alike, our best option is Labneh, a soft cheese that has a similar consistency with cream cheese, but contains less fat and more water. Because of these two qualities, I have never been completely satisfied with the cheesecakes I’ve baked. Although I’m far away from writing the book on chocolate cheesecakes, I’m proud to say that a recent experiment led to the smoothest cheesecake I’ve ever baked.
Pomegranate Jam
You really didn’t think I was done with pomegranates, did you? I am amazed to hear how scarce this amazing fruit is in other parts of the world. A Turkish reader living in Germany said a pomegranate costs 2 Euros there!!! I am so lucky to be living in a city abundant with pomegranates. Did you know that pomegranates have more antioxidant power than cranberry juice or green tea?
Nowadays, I see pomegranates everywhere I turn. I juice two giant pomegranates every other day and drink it in the morning. You already know I fixed my ice cream craving a couple of weeks ago. So, now what? Since pomegranates will not be around after a month or so, I preserved.
