Chocolate + Lemon = Tasty GF Recipe!
| Gluten-Free Chocolate Lemon Cheesecake |
I generally like the combination of citrus flavors and chocolate / cocoa. And, since I had some extra cheeses and yogurt to put to use, as well as some lemons, I decided to assemble this super-simple cheesecake.
The Recipe / Directions
When baking for fun, I don’t usually take time to measure ingredients or anything since I have a fairly good feel for what works and does not. But, I did keep a mental note of what ingredients I used, the approximate measurements, and how I went about creating this chocolate-lemon cheesecake. The recipe is accommodating enough to not require much exactness in measurements, from my experience.
The ingredients I used:
- 750g (~1 quart) Yogurt
- 500g (~1 pint) Mascarpone Cheese
- 250g (~1 cup) Ricotta Cheese
- 5 large eggs
- 1 cup (or slightly more) Cocoa
- 1 TBSP cornstarch
- Lemons: the juice and zest of 3 lemons — if I had some lemon oil / lemon concentrate, I would have considered using a bit to boost the lemon flavor and impact
- ½ Cup Sugar — you may like yours sweeter, but I was aiming for semi-sweet in my final product.
- ¼ Molasses — I was using this to deepen the overall flavor profile and complexity a bit; you can certainly choose to use all white sugar, perhaps 1 cup, and omit this if you want.
- 1 TSP vanilla
- [Optional, as shown] A pre-made gluten-free tart-base, a product which I will review here later. Fact is, I could have just made this without the base and it would be just fine and bake nearly identically.
The mixing and baking process:
I then selected a 12-inch cast iron skillet, which may not be as “normal” as a springform, but, I like cast iron a lot and it worked quite well. I covered it with a light coating of cooking-spray and placed the tart-base in the pan. Next, I poured my cheese, yogurt, cocoa, etc mix into the pan overtop my base.
Place this into a preheated 325-degree F oven, and give it 90 minutes bake time or so, then turn the oven off, allowing the cake to remain in the still-hot oven another 15-20 minutes, then remove and allow to cool down to near room temperature before placing in the fridge. This will yield a reasonably firm, yet smooth-textured, cheesecake with a deep chocolate flavor. If you prefer a softer texture, reducing the bake time 15 minutes may produce the result you desire.
I created this on a whim, and I liked the result. This recipe demonstrates how multiple cheese varieties, and yogurt, can be combined to produce a lovely cheesecake in a hurry. And, it would be quite simple to alter the accent-flavor to orange if you choose, or perhaps even berries of some variety.
Continue to read this Gluten-Free Blog for all sorts of gluten-free recipes, product-reviews, and related information. In addition, visit my Gluten-Free Recipes Site where many of the recipes I have featured on this blog are available.
