Rich Chocolate-Amaretto Cheesecake

[chasingtides]

This is designed to be a lactose-free cheesecake. That's right, those among you who can't digest lactose - you can now have cheesecake! It's also super-cheap - Beyond the stuff that was already in my pantry, I spent exactly $4.09 on ingredients - and surprisingly low fat. You won't be able to resist making another one.)

Crust

2 cup crushed graham crackers or plain cookies (at 79 cents a pack, I used 2/3 of a pack of Goya Maria Cookies)
8 tablespoons oil
4 tablespoons hot water mixed with 4 teaspoons instant mocha mix (any cocoa mix will do, I just had mocha on hand)

Mix together and pat into the pie dish as the crust. I used the meat tenderizer to crush the cookies. It's very satisfying to smash things with that, especially when they make cracking noises.

Filling

2 cups (16 oz) cottage cheese (I used the new Lactaid brand - no lactose - but if you can consume lactose, just go for something with small curds)
1/2 cup of baking cocoa (this is unsweetened)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon corn starch
2/3 cup of brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 handfuls of semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 shot of amaretto liquor*

Blend. I've heard of people making cheesecake filling in the blender, but I just dump everything in a big bowl and have at with the electric mixer.

Pour into the crust. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes or until the edges of the cheesecake are firm and center jiggles slightly.

*If you don't have amaretto or you don't want to cook with alcohol, you can replace this with a dash of almond extract. If you're in the US, A C Moore (yes, the craft store) sells an amaretto extract for about $2. (Warning: Their flavorings are *very* strong; only use a small amount.)

Additionally, you can play with other flavors. I plan to try this out with Creme de Menthe later this summer. Trying it out with strawberries or raspberries and then garnishing the top could be delicious and exciting. There's really no end to what you can do with chocolate cheesecake.

Comments

[crimsonkitty88.livejournal.com]

ooooooh. *saves* my uncle and mum are lactose intolerant so they should appreciate this.

[chasingtides.livejournal.com]

I saw last week that Lactaid brand had come out with a cottage cheese and I couldn't resist whipping this out. My parents are away until tomorrow, but this will be waiting in the fridge for them. My dad's favorite dessert of all time is chocolate cheesecake (really anything that involves chocolate and milk is up his alley) so he's been deprived since he realised he's lactose-intolerant.

Hopefully this (and the dishes that come after it) will make up for it.

[crimsonkitty88.livejournal.com]

cheesecaaaaaaaake *_*

[the_con_cept.livejournal.com]

This looks like the most delicious thing I've ever seen. I think I'm going to have to do some shopping tomorrow. *drools like Homer Simpson*

[chasingtides.livejournal.com]

It's also super-cheap. I am not lying when I say I had to spend less than $5 to put everything together. I had everything else in the cupboard (flour, sugar, vanilla). The only thing I have that might be outlandish to some is the baking cocoa - but we don't spend more than $4 or 5 on that. (And a tin of baking cocoa should last you a while.)

[getyourguns.livejournal.com]

(http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm301/emotionalemotion/macros/misc_macro/?action=view&current=1242491447058.jpg)

[chasingtides.livejournal.com]

Image not found?

[getyourguns.livejournal.com]

O_o really? It's showing for me. :(

[chasingtides.livejournal.com]

Huh. It's showing now.

Odd.

[pinkmango239.livejournal.com]

alright, prep yourself for a really stupid question.

a friend of mine has a son who is allergic to dairy. does that mean he is allergic to the lactose?

would this be suitable for him to eat since it's lactose-free?

would you mind if i passed this on to her?

[chasingtides.livejournal.com]

Not a stupid question!

Dairy allergies come in a variety of forms.

For example, my father is lactose intolerant. His body cannot process the lactose found in most (but not all) milk products on the market. There are certain products made for the lactose intolerant, often containing the lactase enzyme. Additionally, research suggests that the human body processes the sugars in goats and sheep's milk (also available in the US market, but more likely in specialty stores and/or on specialty farms) differently than we processes the sugars in cow's milk.

However, my brother and mother are allergic to a specific protein found in cow's milk. It's not the lactose (a sugar), but a protein. (I don't know which one off the top of my head.) Growing up, they both consumed goat's milk instead of cow's milk because the goat's milk does not contain that protein. (We got it from a local farm. My brother, I believe, has found a grocery local to him that carries it. I'm trying to get my mother to harass our local grocer into carrying reduced fat goat's milk because she can't have the whole farm-fresh milk because of the cholesterol anymore.)

If your friend's son is lactose-intolerant, this would work very well for him.

On the other hand, I can say from first hand experience that you can make standard cheesecake from goat's cheese. You would want to buy the creamy-style goat cheese (we would just get it from the farm, but I've seen this style in stores) and then make the recipe like it was cream cheese. (One note: Because goat cheese tends to have a more distinct scent/taste than cream cheese, you may want to "overdo" the flavor - add more chocolate, etc.). I assume that a creamy sheep's cheese would work equally well. Additionally, if you're buying from the farm, you can probably get a cottage style goat or sheep's cheese - cottage cheese is the easiest cheese to make, after all.