Definitions

While this file was to be included in the Cheesecakes From
Around The World File, it answered so many questions from
the echo that I decided to include it as a separate file.
It will discuss the different things that go into cheese
cakes and the equipment used to make them as well as the
problems that most people run into when they make them.  I
hope that this will answer many of the questions the have
arisen in many of the messages on the echo.

<<Rich>>


                        Cheeses

The most essential ingredient in any cheesecake is -- you
guessed it -- Cheese.  The cheeses that are most commonly
used are cream cheese, Neufchatel, cottage cheese, and
riccota, but there are some recipes that use such cheeses
as gouda and Swiss.

Cheese is made from milk, whether it be from cows, goats,
or sheep.  It has even been made from buffalo and reindeer
milk.  The milk is separated into curds (solids) and whey
(liquids) and most of the cheeses are made from the curds,
although riccota is made from the whey.  The fresh or
uncured cheeses are the ones you mostly will be using in
your cheesecakes, and these include cream cheese,
neufchatel and cottage cheese.  Although these unripened
cheeses all have roughly the same proportion of cheese
solids (roughly 15 to 18 percent), they differ greatly in
their butterfat content.  All other things being equal,
the higher the butterfat content, the creamier the
cheesecake.

CREAM CHEESE:

Cream cheese, made from milk, must contain at least 33
percent butterfat and has one hundred calories per ounce.
The water content is 50 percent, the texture is smooth and
oft, the flavor delicate.  Allow the cheese to come to
room temperature before using it so that it will blend
easily with other ingredients.

Cream cheese is sold in three-ounce and eight-ounce
packages in all supermarkets.  Packages are usually dated
so be sure to check for freshness when you purchase it.
Once purchased, the cheese is usable for at least three
weeks, sometimes even longer.  The most widely distributed
brand is Kraft's Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese although
store brands are also available.  We've found that these
store brands vary somewhat in quality; they aren't always
as smooth and rich as we'd like.  You may want to do some
experimenting to see how well store brands available in
your area compare in flavor and texture with the national
brand.  Imitation cream cheese is available in some
places, but we don't recommend it for your cheesecakes.

NEUFCHATEL:

Neufchatel is made, in the United States, very similar to
cream cheese.  It is made from whole or skim milk, or a
combination of milk and cream.  Its butterfat content is a
little lower -- about 25 percent -- and it usually has 70
calories per ounce.  The water content is 60 percent; the
texture is a little lighter than cream cheese.  The flavor
is milder, but in most cases it can be substituted for
cream cheese when a lower fat content is desired.  But
then again, who do you think you're kidding?  No matter
how you slice it, cheesecake is fattening.  If you do
decide to adapt a cream-cheese recipe for use with
neufchatel, remember that the water content is a little
higher than cream cheese; you may want to increase
slightly the quantity of one of the moisture-holding
ingredients (such as flour, cornstarch, gelatin, or egg
whites) called for in the recipe.

Neufchatel is sold much as is cream cheese and the usable
life is about the same.  Do not confuse this with the
French neufchatel, which is similar to a camembert.

                   COTTAGE CHEESE

A wide variety of cottage cheeses are available on the
market ranging in butterfat content from 1/2 percent to 4
percent.  The dry curd cottage cheeses have roughly twenty
calories per ounce and those with 4 percent butterfat
contain about thirty calories per ounce.  The curds
themselves are made from skim milk.  The richer cottage
cheeses, sometimes called creamed cottage cheese are made
by adding the whole milk and cream to the curds.  Unless
otherwise noted, the recipes calling for the use of
Cottage cheese mean the creamed cottage cheese (at least 2
percent butterfat) carefully drained of excess moisture.

FARMER CHEESE:

This is skim-milk cottage cheese that has been pressed
into small squares or rectangles.  It is usually sold in
delicatessens or specialty shops as bricks.  Dry-curd
cottage cheese can be substituted for farmer cheese if
necessary.

RICOTTA:

In the United States, ricotta is almost always made from
whole milk or a combination of milk and whey.  The fat
content is from 4 to 10 percent and there are about 50
calories per ounce.  The water content is about 72
percent; the texture is slightly grainy, ranging to
creamier if made from all milk.  It is sold in 15 or 32-oz
containers which are usually dated.  Be sure to check for
freshness, since this cheese keeps only for a few days.

Skim-milk ricotta is also available, and this resembles
the original ricotta made in Italy.  Most cheesecake
recipes call for the whole milk ricotta.


                       CREAM

Many of the recipes call for cream, either sweet or sour.
Usually the cream is added to lighten the cake or provide
a richer flavor.

SWEET CREAM:

Cream comes in several different grades, depending upon
the fat content.  Heavy cream contains about 40 percent
butterfat, 5 percent milk solids, and over 50 percent
water.  it has about 53 calories per Tablespoon.  Light
cream contains about 20 percent butterfat and 7 percent
milk solids; the rest is water.  It has about 32 calories
per Tablespoon.  Half and half, a blending of heavy cream
and milk has about 12 percent butterfat, 7 percent milk
solids and 51 percent water.  It has about 20 calories per
Tablespoon.

Heavy cream is added to the ingredients of a cheesecake
most often as whipped cream.  When whipped, heavy cream
will double in volume; for best results, use a chilled
bowl and chilled beaters.  Often confectioners sugar is
added as the cream begins to stiffen to help retain the
volume.  Heavy cream is perishable, so buy only as much as
you plan to use within the next few days.  A new
ultrapasteurized type of cream is now widely available
which has a much longer life.  Many people find that it
does not whip up as high and that it lacks much of the
flavor of the more traditional kind.  We leave the choice
to you.

Light cream is used less often in baking but is available
in most supermarkets.  It is also very perishable and
should be purchased in small quantities.  In most
cheesecake recipes where light cream is indicated, half
and half may be substituted.  Half and half is also
available in most supermarkets, but you can mix up your
own from equal quantities of whole milk and heavy cream.



SOUR CREAM:

This is cream that has been processed commercially so as
to be soured under ideal conditions.  It contains about 20
percent butterfat, about 7 percent milk solids and the
remainder is water.  There are about 30 calories per
Tablespoon.  Sour cream is sold in containers varying from
one half pound to one pound.  It is usually dated, so
check for freshness when you purchase the container.  Sour
cream will last up to two weeks in the refrigerator.  Most
brands seem to be uniformly good.



                 SUGAR AND OTHER SWEETENERS
Every desert cheesecake requires a sweetening of some
kind.  Most of the recipes use granulated sugar.  However,
it is possible to substitute brown sugar or honey in
almost all of the recipes.

HONEY:

Remember that honey will make your cheesecakes darker,
which you may find undesirable.  And, since it is less
soluble than granulated sugar, it is necessary to be
especially careful that it is blended into the cheese
mixture.  Honey is used as the sweeter in such cheese
cakes as Yogurt No-Bake Cheesecake and No Bake Honey
Cheese Pie, but if you want to use it in other cakes, you
must adjust the quantities.  Since honey is sweeter and
has a higher moisture content than granulated sugar, use
one-third less honey by volume and, when possible, reduce
the volume of other liquids by one-fourth cup for each cup
of honey used.  This can be done by appropriately varying
the proportions of dry (cream cheese) and moist (sour
cream) dairy products.

BROWN SUGAR:

This is fine crystals of sugar coated with molasses, sold
in either a dark or light form.  Brown sugar is used as an
ingredient in the Praline Cheesecake, but could be
substituted for granulated sugar in other cakes as well.
As with the honey, brown sugar will make your cake darker,
and you must blend it in well.  Measurements will remain
the same.  We don't recommend using the granulated brown
sugar or the liquid form of brown sugar.

CONFECTIONERS' SUGAR:

Also commonly available, this sugar has been crushed to a
fine powder similarly in texture to cornstarch.  It is
used in cheesecakes primarily in beating egg whites as a
means of stiffening them.  Often it is also added to
whipped cream as a sweetening.



           FLOUR AND OTHER THICKENING AGENTS

Although eggs are generally best for holding together the
ingredients of a successful cheesecake, there are several
other ingredients that can be used in addition or in place
of them.  Flour and cornstarch also thicken the batter and
stabilize the moisture content.

FLOUR:

In most recipes, we indicate either all purpose flour or
self rising flour.  The all-purpose flour can be either
bleached or unbleached and today usually comes pre-sifted.  


If not, sift before measuring.  Self-rising flour is
bleached flour to which has been added a leavening agent
such as baking powder.  Whichever you use, remember to use
it judiciously.  Too much flour will make the cheesecake
tough.

CORNSTARCH:

Finer than flour, cornstarch is more effective as a
thickening agent.  As with the flour, too much cornstarch
will leave your cheesecake tough.

GELATIN:

Unflavored gelatin is commonly available in one-ounce
envelopes.  It is a thickening agent that works best when
refrigerated, thus this is the basic ingredient in most of
the no-bake cheesecakes.  It must be blended well with the
ingredients and completely dissolved.  Too much gelatin
will make a rubbery cheesecake.


                  MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS

Milk is used infrequently in cheesecakes.  Other milk
products that appear more frequently in cheesecakes are
buttermilk, sweetened condensed milk, and Yogurt.
Buttermilk is made when special bacteria are added to
lowfat milk; therefore, an average eight-ounce serving has
about 100 calories.  It is available in most supermarkets,
in 1-quart containers.

Sweetened condensed milk is evaporated milk to which sugar
has been added.  It is very high in calories -- about 980
calories in a cup.  It is sold, unrefrigerated, in most
supermarkets.
Yogurt is milk that has been allowed to ferment to a
semisolid consistency.  It can be made from either whole
or skim milk.  It is often used as a substitute for sour
cream, since it often achieves a similar result.  If you
do attempt to substitute yogurt for sour cream, use whole
milk yogurt if possible and drain carefully of excess
water.  Yogurt has far fewer calories as well -- about 120
as opposed to sour cream's average of 475 per cup.  Yogurt
is sold in all supermarkets in eight-ounce and larger
containers.  You can also make it at home quite easily.



                          EGGS

Since the cheeses and creams used in cheesecakes have such
a high moisture content, it is necessary to have an
ingredient that can hold or absorb water.  The most
popular and the most elegant solution to this problem is
the egg.  Also since egg yolks and whites harden as they
bake, they add body and texture to the cheesecake.  Egg
yolks in particular contain lecithin, an emulsifier, which
has the effect of congealing the fats in the cheese.
Generally a cheesecake recipe with a high fat content will
also call for relatively more eggs.

EGG WHITES;

Many recipes require you to separate the eggs and to beat
the whites until they form stiff peaks with the beaters of
your mixer.  As egg whites are beaten, the albumen is spun
out into a finer and finer web of protein, the finer the
structure, the more moisture the batter can hold.  If the
whites are overbeaten or overheated, however, the delicate
structure collapses and the result is a soggy cheesecake.
Since air is also encapsulated, the egg whites also add
lightness to the cake.  Oddly enough, the freshest eggs
are not the best for cheesecakes; the whites of eggs that
are a few days old can be beaten to a larger volume.
Unless you have access to farm fresh eggs, though, this
isn't likely to be a problem as most of the store bought
eggs are already at least several days old.

When beating the egg whites, add a dash of cream of tartar
to make them more stable.  To make the whites stiffer 9 if
this is desired) you can blend in some confectioners'
sugar or a boiling sugar syrup once the whites have
reached the soft peak stage.






                  BUTTER AND SHORTENING


Except for a few special cheesecakes, butter is not found
among the ingredients in the fillings.  However, it is
basic for most of the crusts.  Please use sweet butter
rather than the salted.


                     FRUITS AND NUTS

Many of the cheesecake recipes use the grated rind of a 
lemon or orange.  For the best results use the fresh peel 
rather than the dried because as the peels are dried they 
lose much of their aromatic oils.  The only part of the 
peel that is used is the outermost, colored layer, called 
the zest.  The zest can be removed with a zester or with 
any ordinary grater.

Many cheesecake recipes call for a small amount of lemon 
juice.  Fresh is the best to use, but good results can be 
obtained using reconstituted lemon juice.  You may wish to 
experiment, varying the amount to suit your own taste and 
which kind to use.

Many times ground nuts are called for and it has been 
found that lightly toasting them brings out a better 
flavor in almonds and hazelnuts (filberts).  They retain 
more of their crunch when used in the batter.  To roast 
the nuts, spread them out on a baking pan and bake for 10 
minutes or so in a 350 degree F. oven, stirring 
occasionally to ensure even browning.  If you use hazel 
nuts (filberts) that still have their paperlike skins, the 
skins must be removed before use -- they acquire a burnt 
taste during the roasting.

The cost of nuts, especially walnuts, in small quantities 
is outrageous, but you can save a bundle if you buy them 
in the bulk and in the shell.  Shelled nuts turn rancid 
fairly quickly, though, store them in the refrigerator or 
freezer, well wrapped.



                   SPICES AND FLAVORINGS

Spices such as cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and 
cardamom will appear frequently in cheesecake recipes 
because the contrast so well with the mildness of the 
cheeses.  Spices do deteriorate as they sit on your rack, 
so be sure to always have fresh ones on hand for your 
baking day.  Cinnamon and ginger can be used ground 
commercially, but you may want to grate your own nutmeg 
and grind your own cloves or cardamom from the whole 
spices.  A coffee grinder is one of the best ways to do 
this.

Certain flavorings such as vanilla extract or 
instant-coffee powder are used in cheesecakes.  Rosewater 
is used in some and can be found in specialty stores as 
well as the drugstore.

Chocolate is used in the mocha-flavored and 
chocolate-flavored cheesecakes.  Please use the real 
chocolate, baking or semi-sweet when making the cakes.