Summer came a little late this year or not at all according to some people. In fact, with the cool evenings and dark morning, it feels as if we are slipping directly into fall. I can’t complain, as autumn is my favourite season, after all. Usually, it’s a welcome reprieve from the overbearing heat of summer, but this year, that was not so. Spring/summer/fall, it’s all felt the same. I’m thinking we just call the “summer” of 2011 Sprummerall (that’s spring, summer and fall all wrapped in one).
But one thing that hasn’t been lacking in the season has been the produce. Our garden is awash in green and I eagerly anticipate the autumn bounty. Right now though, is the height of the berry season around the Saanich Peninsula. A three minute walk from my house is a blueberry patch. A U-Pick blueberry patch. We have also done strawberries and raspberries as well. If it were up to me, dinner would consist of giant bowls of all the fresh berries accompanied by another giant bowl of freshly whipped cream. You just can’t go wrong, except….then the guilt sets in. All that sugar… and the fat from the cream. Hmmm….what’s a girl to do?
Make a dessert that is completely guilt free, that’s what. This Cottage Cheesecake stemmed from my mother and I trying out a new product: dry curd cottage cheese. I’d never had it, and neither had my mother. I usually just buy the regular 1% creamy style, as it’s the perfect protein boost after my workouts. But the dry stuff has more protein and less salt, actually barely any, compared to over 300g per serving of my regular variety (!). So we bought a big tub, and we brought it home, and we got ready to have some lunch. We both dug in a spoon, placed it gingerly in our mouths…and we both simultaneously made horrified/disgusted faces. Gross. Tasteless. No salt. Blech.
But what to do with 600g of dry curd cottage cheese that everyone hates? How about a high protein, low fat dessert? After a bit of research, I found that a lot of fitness junkies made all sorts of delicious things out of my usual breakfast snack. Not many recipes called for the dry stuff…in fact I couldn’t find a lot about it anywhere. But we figured it out, we switched a few things, we changed this and that and you know what? My father, a staunch cheesecake hater, says this is the perfect cheesecake. Light not heavy with a definite cheesy quality. Low in sugar, high in protein and rich with flavour. A 1/16 slice (with topping) will set you back about 300 calories, quite a difference compared to a regular cheesecake slice, coming in at about 500 calories.
We were all so impressed with the caloric content, we ate out pieces and gushed over how good it was. We all excused ourselves from the table and sat down to watch some comedy from John Pineti (hilarious…I’m STARVIN”!) and then quietly…one by one, we all snuck back into the kitchen and sliced ourselves off another hunk. It was just that good.
So if you’ve been indulging a bit too much this summer but aren’t ready to give up on desserts just yet, try this cottage cheesecake out. It might just blow your socks right off.
One Year Ago: Roasted Corn, Lima Bean and Feta Salad
Two Years Ago: Grilled Peach Salsa
Blueberry Topped Cottage Cheesecake
Yield: 12-16 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 60 minutesFor the Crust:
1 3/4 cups cookie crumbs (I used digestive biscuits, but these are impossible to find in the states. Try shortbread, graham crackers, chocolate cookies or any other desired cookies or biscuits)
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar1. Preheat oven to 350°F, arrange racks in top and bottom 1/3 of oven. Place a metal or glass baking dish in the very bottom (more on this later).
2. In a small bowl mix crumbs, sugar and salt. Stir in the melted butter until completely combined.
3. Pat into the bottom of a greased 9″ springform pan. Bake for 15 minutes on top rack. Cool and set aside.For the Filling:
600g (4 cups) dry curd cottage cheese
1 cup plain 0% Greek Yogurt
zest of 1/2 an orange
juice of 1 whole orange
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
pinch of ground cardamom
5 eggs
8g stevia powder*
1/3 cup agave or honey
1/4 tsp salt*If not using stevia, double the agave or honey.
1. In the jar of a blender or the bowl of a food processor, pulse all filling ingredients until as smooth as possible.
2. Pour filling onto the cooled crust.
3. Pour room temperature water into the baking dish on the bottom of the oven and place cheesecake on top rack. Having this water under the cheesecake as it bakes helps to prevent cracking.
4. Bake for 60 minutes, remove from oven and cool to room temperature on a cooling rack.For the Topping:
3 cups fresh blueberries
2 tbsp butter
juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar1. In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients.
2. Cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes.
3. Pour over top of cheesecake, spreading to within 1/2 inch of the edges.
4. Cool cheesecake in the fridge for at least four hours to allow to set, but preferably overnight.
Similarly delicious recipes from other fabulous food blogs:
Japanese Cheesecake on Christine’s Recipes
Cheesecake in Jars on My Baking Addiction
Cottage Cheese, Blueberry and Rocket Salad on Salad Pride
Low fat Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Glaze on Bakers Royale
Cottage Cheese Pancakes on 5 Second Rule
I am SO jealous of your fresh blueberry picking!!!!! This looks AMAZING!!!!
Love this! My mom makes a Polish cheesecake that is cooked in a rectangular pan and cut into squares, and it’s made with the dry curd cottage cheese as well as regular cottage cheese. That, rather than cream cheese, provides such a nice, almost tangy flavour. I can’t wait to try out this recipe!
What a gorgeous cheesecake! Extremely tempting.
Cheers,
Rosa
Blueberry cheesecake is the best – thanks for this recipe 🙂
Elizabeth, This cheesecake sounds lovely. I have some frozen handpicked blueberries that will just have to be reserved for this recipe. Thanks for sharing a version of cheesecake with healthier ingredients. Bonnie
That cheesecake looks absolutely amazing! Yum 🙂
This is just beautiful, no other words for it! maybe perfect…that fits pretty well too 🙂 i love the sound of this recipe, saved for sure!
This looks amazing and your photos are just always so fantastic.
Fall is definietly my favourite time of the year, but I do feel like summer has been far too short. I just picked up up blueberries for $10 and haven’t enough large containers to freeze them so am ready to start baking!!
I just came home with bluberries for $10 and did not have enough large containers to freeze the. Looks like I am looking for recipes!!!
I’m so pleased that you linked to me at the end as it allowed me to find your beautiful site. And my mother-in-law was just visiting, and made cottage cheese pancakes, but we bought too much, so now we have cottage cheese left over.
And we also have blueberries.
Dessert!
Awesome Cheryl! Glad to have you over here. i hope you enjoy the cake…I know I’ll be making it again soon.
I’m so thrilled I’ve found your blog and this cheesecake. I’ve got a bridesmaids dress to get into in three weeks time. I’m trying to be good, but cheesecake was exactly what I’d been craving. Can’t wait to try this.
If you are looking for digestive biscuits and have a Meijer store near you, you can find them there.
If you are in the States ( Like I am ) and you want digestive cookies ( Like I often do, being canadian I grew up with them and love them with a spot of tea on and autumn night with a good book….) Stop and Shop generally has them, however you have to look in the imported section from england. Now this makes it so they are really expensive, at least in comparison to what you pay back home, at about $4.49 for a pack of digestives. But I wanted everyone to know that they ARE available.
i like cottage cheese, but my husband doesn’t. i love cheesecake, but my husband doesn’t. i wonder if he would like this??? i’m sure I WOULD!!!
Cheesecake is definitely my favorite dessert. This one looks irresistible. All of those blueberries on top are making my salivate.
I’m definitely not a fitness junkie… more like a cheesecake junkie. And this one had me fooled. Looks phenomenal, Elizabeth!
Your blueberry cheesecake looks so delicious. Sure it’s a winner in every occasion.
Thanks for the shout-out.
This sounds incredible. I love using cottage cheese and Greek yogurt to make sweet treats, especially with stevia. The blueberry topping sounds to-die-for! Now if only I could still go pick some fresh ones 🙂
This looks so wonderful!
I will try it soon 🙂
Only one question, the temperature for the filling is also 350?
Thank you!
No the filling is cooked on the stovetop at medium heat until thickened.
Cheesecake makes my heart go pitter-pat…but this gorgeous guilt free version has me giddy as can be! *swoon*
That cheesecake – regardless of how healthy it is – is stunning. Fall is my favorite season, too, but I do like a little summer. You’re welcome to visit us in Florida anytime you feel like it, whenever you need a warm weather lift – just say the word.
I’m going to hold you to that Jennifer!
Woooooah. That looks incredible. I don’t like blueberry pie, but blueberry cheesecake will do just fine thankyouverymuch.
Have to say I love cheesecake and Liz knows it, but I always find that it’s just a bit too sweet for me and since I watch my calories as well, it’s been off my menu for a couple of years. This one has now been added back into my list of safe foods. Best cheesecake Richard and I have ever had!
If we’re really lucky Liz will make this for us again before we head south for the winter!
despite it not being quite cool enough to fire up the oven, i made this the other day and it is awesome! i was just diagnosed with gestational diabetes and cutting out sweets until my baby is born is just not an option. this is super because it has so much protein and very little in the way of fat & sugar (& carbs in general). next time i’m gonna try making it with the raspberries i picked this summer. yay!
oooh yeah, raspberries would be awesome with this! So glad I can help keep your sweet tooth sated until that little dumpling arrives!
Gorgeous cake and I when I get blueberries I freeze them to have all year….
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Any ideas on how I might use this recipe with regular 1% or 2% cottage cheese? Looks awesome and love the idea of using stevia and agave.
Hi Cathy, I have not tried it with other kinds, but I assume it would make the batter too liquidy. You could try draining it first?
hi,may i know can i just use the creamy type of cottage cheese instead of the dry curd ? i can hardly find dry curd ones in Malaysia
You can try but I have not tested that.
I have mine cooling, right now. Instead of a crust, I buttered the springform and crushed pizzelle cookies to fine crumbs and dusted the pan with them. So far, the outside rim came off like a dream. If you are gluten free, you could do it with a gluten free cookie or fine almond meal, I bet. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Hey Elizabeth. This was one of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever had. I live in New Zealand and it is almost impossible to source low-fat dry curd cottage cheese. I resorted to straining regular cottage cheese in a colander for a few hours and it worked perfectly. I’ve been a cheesecake fan since early childhood but have tried to abstain from it since getting into serious training. This has become my most prized dessert recipe! Thank you.
Thanks for letting me know Malcolm! This is also one of my favourite recipes, although since going Paleo I haven’t eaten it…:( I love hearing new ways to find that dry curd, so thank you!
So.. I just did exactly the same – bought a big 600g tub of the stuff thinking it would be even better than the standard. Blech! What other ways can I use dry curds rather than an indulgent dessert. We made a dip but it was very dry and bitzy. Perhaps some high protein bars??
Protein bars or baked goods high in proteint oo, like muffins or balls…:)
for those really wanting to use the digestive biscuits, here is the link….
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_10?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=digestive%20biscuits&sprefix=digestive+%2Caps%2C274
Thanks for the recipe. I’m told that Farmer’s Cheese is what dry curd cottage cheese is called in the US.
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