On the way back from the Amalfi Coast, on the first day of 2019 we stopped at the restaurant of the “Tiziana” hotel in Montepulciano (Tre Berte hamlet) where, at the end of a meat-based lunch, they served us a mixed berry cheesecake.
Cheesecake is a chilled dessert made of a biscuit base topped with a thick layer of sweetened fresh cheese cream.
It can be baked (like the NY Cheesecake) or not.
This is a baked version, which has much more in common with a Sernik (the typical Polish cheesecake) than with a New York Cheesecake or a no-bake version prepared with a cream based on cream cheese, eggs and sugar. It is made with mixed berries, and is gluten- and lactose-free. For this recipe we used a springform pan about 9 in (22 cm).
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Moderate
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 8 servings
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 3 cups Gluten- and lactose-free dry cookies (about 13 oz)
- 2/3 cup Clarified butter (ghee) (about 5.3 oz)
- 25 oz Lactose-free spreadable fresh cheese (about 700 g ≈ 25 oz)
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- to taste Orange blossom or vanilla extract
- 4 Eggs
- 1 cup Mixed berries (fresh) (about 5.3 oz)
Tools
- 1 Ø 22 cm (9 in) springform pan
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 320 °F.
Melt the clarified butter in a bain-marie (or in the microwave). Crumble the cookies and mix with the melted butter.
In another bowl, using an electric whisk, beat the cream cheese with the sugar and the orange blossom (or vanilla) extract: work the ingredients until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous mixture.
Add the eggs to the sweetened and flavored cream cheese, one at a time, mixing with the electric mixer at the lowest possible speed.
Place the crumbled cookies mixed with the butter on the base of a nonstick springform pan, then pour in the creamy mixture.
Bake the cheesecake for about 50 minutes in the already hot oven.
When baking is complete, let it cool before removing from the pan.
Serve the dessert chilled with fresh berries or slightly warmed in a pan with sugar.
Notes
The biscuit base will be more crumbly due to the absence of gluten. The cream cheese mixture will be slightly sweeter because of the lactose-free product (see HERE why).
Gluten is a peptide compound typically found in certain cereals, especially wheat and similar grains (spelt, emmer, triticale, kamut), but also in rye, barley and often in oats.
Here is the video recipe:
You can purchase gluten-free cookies suitable for this recipe, also available online.
