Japanese Rare Cheesecake

Sounds exotic, no? Well actually, Japanese rare cheesecake is just the no-bake cheesecake of Japan. They are dense,

...with whipped cream and cherries for topping!

cold and delightfully bittersweet if you use the recipe I used. A lot of people know about no-bake cheesecakes but my story behind this awesome pastry is that a year ago I didn’t have an oven because mine broke *tear* and we couldn’t get it fix until late 2010. So, because I couldn’t contain myself from making sweets I looked back at my old recipes and found this one that I used for a Japanese -themed party YEARS ago. The downfall was that I did with with strawberry gelatin (My friend couldn’t find plain gelatin mix so she gave me that) and it tasted weird, like Strawberry Cheesecake but…weird. I didn’t want to do it again but I decided to give it one more chance (with the right ingredients this time).

I made this recipe for a special occasion this time. Me and J. had our one year anniversary in July ’10 and I wanted to make something for him that we would both love so why not cheesecake? Like I said before, it wasn’t ultra sweet since I used limes and a little lime zest to kick it up a notch but you don’t have to add it in if you don’t want to.

Here’s the recipe I used(Original: About.com)

*They have a video tutorial for making this cheesecake as well, so check it out.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup and 2 tbsp plain yogurt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice (I used limes)
• 1 tbsp powder gelatin
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 package of graham crackers
• 3 tbsp butter
• fresh fruit/whipping cream for topping (optional)
• Rolling pin/large cup
• plastic bag

Directions:

Make the Graham Cracker Crust

Take a package of graham crackers and place it in a plastic bag. Roll over it with a rolling pin mashing it into the crumbs. Melt the butter in a microwave. In a medium bowl, add your freshly made graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and a tablespoon of sugar and mix it together. Press the crumbs into the bottom of a round cake pan (8 inch).

(You can always put the graham crackers in a food processor so it’s chopped up finely but I prefer to do it this way)

Make the Cheesecake Filling

Mix powder gelatin and water in a small cup and set aside. Stir cream cheese in a bowl until softened. Put water and gelatin mixture into microwave and heat for a minute. Add yogurt, sugar, lemon juice, and gelatin into softened cream cheese and mix well. Pour the filling into the crust and spread evenly. Refrigerate for 3 hours.

Serving Japanese Rare Cheesecake

If your pan has a removable bottom, place it on a large can, and pull down the sides. Slide the cake into a serving platter and cut it into wedges. Serve with your favorite fruit or jam.

Of course, there isn't a party without wine.

...it was a nice cheescake. So nice that there wasn't any by the next day.