More surprise ingredients!

I'm a little off schedule now... but it shouldn't be a problem to get back on track. Monday's pie used yet another of the surprise ingredients: Yogurt. Not too much of a stretch, really. Mara suggested straining it and substituting for the cream cheese in a cheesecake. And since Occasionally Cheesecake Mondays are a thing, things just fell into place.

Straining the yogurt took quite a while, so I didn't get the cheesecake in the oven until Tuesday. And then when I got home from work today, it felt like swimming to just sit on the couch. I decided I would spare the house from the heat of using the oven an hour or so.

Anyway, cheesecake.
I strained two 32 oz containers of plain yogurt to try to get the weight equivalent of four packages of cream cheese. It was pretty close. Using cheesecloth, I strained the yogurt most of Monday in a colander inside a bowl. There was a little room under the colander so the yogurt wasn't resting in its juice. For the first several hours, a lot of water drained off. I poured it off every hour to hour and a half. I think it drained pretty evenly, but I mixed the yogurt a few times through the day in case certain parts were holding more liquid. If I had done it in smaller doses, I prolly could have rolled up the cheesecloth and squeezed out a lot of the liquid, but I just went at it with the whole darn thing. It took a lot longer, but oh well. Anyway, when it was getting late, I just stuck the bowl/colander/cheesecloth/yogurt stack into the fridge and let it keep draining all night. I weighed it in the morning, and I think it was about 1 pound 13 oz, compared to the 2 pounds the recipe called for. Close enough. Or I was getting impatient.

4 (8oz) packages cream cheese OR 2x 32oz yogurt, strained
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Go ahead and prep the graham cracker crust we used last week. Instead of reserving a third of the crumbs to stick on the sides of the finished cheesecake, I just patted them all on the bottom of the springform pan and baked it a few minutes longer. Impatience and all...

Preheat the oven to 350F for the cheesecake.
Then, mix up the insides! The recipe I followed does it one way (and incidentally, I did it that way), but I'm going to suggest a different order. To your yogurt (or if you want to go traditional, four 8oz packages of cream cheese), add the sugar and beat until smooth. Beat the eggs in one at a time, then add the sour cream. Hold the milk until the end, mixing the flour and vanilla into it. It should be easier to whisk the flour into the milk than to convince it to combine with the rest of it. Then set aside the electric beater and gently stir the milk mixture into the rest with a big wooden spoon or something. Slowly pour the deliciousness into the crust. Let it rest for a few minutes to allow some of the bubbles that inevitably got trapped in the goo to rise out. If you're confident, try gently striking the pan on the surface of the counter. It'll help the bubbles shake loose. Then bake for 60 minutes.

Lots of people have trouble with cheesecakes cracking on top. Here're a few tips to prevent that. First，make sure the ingredients (especially if you use cream cheese) are room temperature. That will allow them to all combine evenly. Another is having too much air in the custard. So knocking those bubbles out is the first step. But cooling too fast is usually the biggest offender. So when it's done baking, just turn off the oven and leave it in there for a few hours. Be patient!! The cheesecake will thank you.

I've been enjoying this one so far! It has a slightly different flavor and texture. Definitely yummy.