Cheesecake with Israeli cheeses?

binah918

Sun, May 28 2006, 1:36 am

This is my first Shavuos in Israel and I have no idea how to make cheesecake with the selection of mehadrin cheeses available. I can't find cream cheese. Can someone tell what kind of cheese I can use instead? If you can, also give me the name, brand and hashgacha of the cheese. Thanks!

supermom

Sun, May 28 2006, 1:50 am

This is the way we make our cream cheese since I love cream cheese and there is non here that is thick enough and creamy. We take the sour cream and mix it with some salt. We either add in some olives, scallions, garlic, or onion depends on what flavor we want or stick to plain with salt for taste.

Next we throw it into a clean stocking or a sheet. It gets tied on the top with a rubber band and hang it over our sink by the cabinet knobs. We leave it there for twenty four hours and by then all the water has dripped out into the sink. And of course enjoy.

CHEESECAKE RECIPE/ this is the only cheesecake that I have tried that came out really good that everyone loves. The best part you don't need to cook it at all.

Four cream cheese/ I use tenuva products
Four whip cream/ milk ones not for cooking though
A cup of sugar or two 3/4 cup of sugar depends on your taste buds
package of vanilla pudding / I use the osem packages since it has no junk in it.
Tea biscuits chocolate

Mix the whip cream and sugar together then add in the pudding and cream cheese.

Line the tea biscuits on the bottom of your pan, and pour half of the mixture on top of biscuits. and then layer another layer of biscuits and another layer of the mixture. Crumble some biscuits on top and put in the fridgerator from a couple of hours or overnight enjoy!!!
_________________

binah918

Sun, May 28 2006, 6:19 am

Thanks Supermom for the recipe! Actually I have a number of my own recipes I'd like to try that do require baking. Can I just use the homemade sour cream w/ salt cheese that you make? Is that an appropriate substitute for cream cheese in cheese cake?

Also, you say in the recipe to use 4 cream cheeses (Tnuva). What is it called, in Hebrew? Is it mehardin?

I live near Bnei Brak so if anyone knows of stores with good cheese selections, please share!!! We shop at Shefa Shuk which always has the basics but I never know where to go for more of a selection.

supermom

Sun, May 28 2006, 9:22 am

Tenuva products that is the company is badatz and not bedatz you just have to look for the ones that are. as for the cheese I don't know not sure since I never tried it but someone from the other thread shavous menu posted that she does. All american recipes don't work in israel.

ceo

Sun, May 28 2006, 9:32 am

I have a recipe that unfortunately I cannot find rigjht now. But, I will try to remember it best as I can.

Edited to correct size of cheese containers!

2 containers of 9% cheese (I think the standard size is 250 grams, so two of that size)

1 container of shomenet

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

2-3 tablespoons flour

1 tsp of vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients together, pour into pie shell (I used graham cracker crust), bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Even though now I live in America, I prefer this recipe to other cheesecakes, I prefer that the consistency is a bit lighter. Also, I never used two containers of 9% cheese, often used 1 container of 9% and once container of 5%, same thing with the shomenet, I often used 16% instead of 22%. Again, since this isn't the exact recipe, taste the batter, and if you think it nmeeds more sugar, add more sugar.

Last edited by ceo on Sun, May 28 2006, 7:23 pm; edited 2 times in total

yedidya's mom

Sun, May 28 2006, 12:28 pm

CEO, I have a very similar recipe to yours
except I use 2 containers of 250 each (altogether 500g) and I use 5 % cheese. 1 liter of gvina levana sounds like a lot to me in proportion to the rest of the recipe.
also if you want to make your own piecrust, just crush vanilla or butter cookies and mix with oil/melted margarine and pat into a pan.

mali

Sun, May 28 2006, 12:57 pm

I have a fantastic recipe for Israeli white cheese cheesecake. This recipe is for a 9x13, but I always make it in a big pan by preparing 1 1/2 times the recipe.
Here it is:
Dough:
1/2 Israeli margarine (100 gr.)
1/4 cup sugar
2 yolks
a drop of vanilla extract (optional)
1 tsp. lemon rind (optional)
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/8 cup wine
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 pk. (1 1/2 tsp.) baking powder
Pat into pan and bake for 20 minutes or until golden

Meanwhile prepare cheese:
4 whites - beat. when soft peaks form, slowly add:
1 cup sugar

In a separate bowl, mix together:
2 yolks
1 tsp. sugar
1 pk. vanilla sugar
3 white cheeses (5% or 9%)
1 sour cream
2 1/2 heaping Tbs. cornstarch (sift lightly over mixture, to avoid clumps)

Carefully fold the whites into the cheese mixture. Bake (covered with aluminum foil, if you want the top to remain white) for an hour. For the first ten minutes of baking, put the oven on a higher setting, then lower the heat to regular temperature (180 deg. celsius, 350 deg. farenheit).

Topping (optional):
1 sour cream
2 tsp. sugar
a few drops vanilla extract
mix and spread on baked cake

Well worth the effort Exclamation

Last edited by mali on Sun, May 28 2006, 1:57 pm; edited 1 time in total

TzenaRena

Sun, May 28 2006, 2:14 pm

Quote:

For cream cheese/ I use tenuva products

This is the latest news: There is a court-case now in process against the Chief Rabbinate, and the Tenuva Rav, Rabbi Weitman, being brought by attorneys Mordechai and Nechama Tzivin, on behalf of Chabad, demanding that the Tenuvah company must inform the public, when there is Cholov Akum in their product.

It turns out that Tenuvah has been using Cholov Akum in many of its products, and the Israeli public was not informed of this. According to Rabbi Weitman who acknowledges that this is true, when there was Chalav akum used, the company was supposed to print it on the product label. But this was not enforced, and nobody had any idea that this was the case. This was reported on www.col.org.il.

Some comments I read were that this scandal might not include the mehadrin Tenuvah, or the one with eida hachareidis hechsher. In any case, those who do use the Tenuvah products, please check with your Rav about these developments.

shalhevet

Sun, May 28 2006, 2:24 pm

SaraYehudis wrote:

Some comments I read were that this scandal might not include the mehadrin Tenuvah, or the one with eida hachareidis hechsher. In any case, those who do use the Tenuvah products, please check with your Rav about these developments.

It's next to impossible to believe that tnuva mehadrin is affected. The various hechsherim, epecially the eida chareidis, are considered to be absolutely wonderful. In fact, many people (including choshuva rabbonim) hold the eida chareidis to be the best hechsher in the world! The eida is known to be extremely scrupulous and it is next to impossible that such a thing got past them.
So be careful what you say (I know you were careful in your wording)

There are lots and lots of tnuva products with various rabbanut hechsherim, including Rav Whitman, so obviously this needs to be investigated.

Thanks for the info.

TzenaRena

Sun, May 28 2006, 2:41 pm

mummysix, you are right. It's only because I don't have the exact information that I used the word might, but I know for sure that one Rav of a Chabad kehilla told them that the tenuvah with eida hachareidis hechsher was good. Presumably it never had the problem.

shalhevet

Sun, May 28 2006, 3:12 pm

Here's a great recipe:

Base: 250g/ 2 cups biscuit crumbs (I use petit beurre)
100g butter / soft margarine
1/2 teaspoon lemon rind - optional
Mix together and line a baking tray.

filling: 750g/ 3 containers "gevina levana" 5/9%
50g margarine with salt
1.25 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tspn vanilla essence
2 tblspns cornflour/ potato flour
1/2 lemon - juice and finely grated rind
Mix together, in this order. Spread on top of the crumb base and bake for about an hour 180 degrees.

Topping: 2 containers/ 400cc shamenet chamutza (comes in containers like leben, 15%)
2 sachets vanilla sugar
2 tblspns sugar
Whisk together with a fork. Spread on top of cake and bake another 10 minutes.
Turn off the oven. Leave the cake to cool inside for another 20 minutes.

You can freeze this successfully too.

suomynona

Mon, May 29 2006, 1:59 am

Here's my cheesecake recipe. It may be similar to some of those posted above. It's really easy.
This recipe is for 2 grapham cracker crusts (or make your own with tea buiscuts.)

2 eggs
1 T. lemon juice
4 containers (1000 grams) Israeli cheese
1 container shamenet - sour cream

mix above ingredients together

add:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 c. flour
2 T. vanilla sugar

Recipe says to bake for 25-30 minutes, but it needed an hour in my toaster oven.