Old Knox Cottage Cheese Cheesecake Recipe
Originally called No-Bake Cheese Cake (two words), this is a recipe from 1954 that calls for cottage cheese rather than cream cheese. Being an old recipe, it also calls for uncooked whipped egg whites. If this is a concern you can substitute pasteurized egg whites.
Servings 12 slices
Cost 5
Ingredients
- 4-5 teaspoons powdered gelatin (almost 2 envelopes)** I recommended 4 for the full batch and 2 if halving rather than 5 and 2 ½.
- 1 cup sugar (200 grams)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 cup milk, whole
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest or ¼ teaspoon lemon oil
- 24 oz 4% fat cottage cheese, drained through a sieve and pureed**
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 2 large egg whites or pasteurized egg whites (about 70 grams of pasteurized) See note
- 1 cup heavy cream
Crumb Topping
- ½ cup graham cracker crumbs
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- Put the cottage cheese through a sieve and let liquid drain out. You should get between ⅓ and ½ cup of liquid, but don't be too concerned about how much drains out. Brands seem to vary. Save the liquid for another use and puree the cottage cheese in a food processor. Keep the processor handy for making graham cracker crumbs and whipping the cream.
- Mix gelatin (I prefer 4 teaspoons, but the original recipe says 2 packets or 5 teaspoons), 1 cup sugar, and ⅛ scant teaspoon salt in the top of a double boiler, off heat.
- Whisk together 2 egg yolks and cold milk, then whisk into the gelatin mixture. Set over boiling water, stirring constantly until gelatin is dissolved and mixture thickens just slightly. About 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat, add the lemon zest, and let cool.
- Pour gelatin mixture into a bowl and stir in the pureed cottage cheese, lemon juice, and vanilla. Chill, stirring occasionally until mixture mounds slightly when dropped from a spoon (this should about an hour).
- While mixture is chilling, make crumb topping (as written below) if you plan on using it.
- When gelatin mixture has thickened slightly and forms mounds when spooned, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold them into the gelatin mixture. Fold in the whipped cream.
- Turn into an 8 or 9-inch spring form pan and sprinkle top with crumb mixture. Chill until firm (6 to 8 hours).
Crumb Topping
- Mix ½ cup graham cracker crumbs, 1 tablespoon sugar, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg. Pour in 2 tablespoons melted butter and mix well.
Notes
If you don't have a springform pan you can make the Cottage Cheese Cheesecake in an 8-inch square pan and serve it straight out of the pan.
For a smaller size cheesecake, halve all of the ingredients except for the topping and use a 6-inch springform.
After draining a 24 oz container of Friendly Farms 4%, I had about 19 oz of curds and 5 oz of the cottage cheese cream.
Being an old recipe, it does call for whipped, uncooked egg whites, so in some cases it may be best to use pasteurized egg whites. If using pasteurized egg whites, use about 60 grams.
