For years, I’ve had visions of building a grand gingerbread house, a house decked out with icing decorations and gummy candy bling. Every December, I promise myself that I would attempt to make a gingerbread house. I even go through the effort of bookmarking several tutorials, but I don’t ever see it through to the end. Unfortunately, I won’t be getting around to making one this year either, as I am already across the Atlantic in England, getting ready to spend Christmas with my husband’s family. Alas, I will have to wait another year to fulfill my gingerbread house dreams, but that shouldn’t stop us from enjoying some good ‘ol gingerbread! Let’s talk about this gingerbread cheesecake. I don’t eat cheesecakes often because I usually find them too heavy or sweet. That’s why I lightened up this gingerbread cheesecake by making the batter with equal parts House Foods organic soft tofu and low-fat cream cheese. You’ll also find that there’s less sugar in this cheesecake than you would normally find in a cheesecake recipe.
One of the trickiest things about baking cheesecakes is preventing cracks from appearing on the top. Often times, if you don’t cool a cheesecake properly, the surface will crack. The beauty about this tofu cheesecake is that you don’t have to worry about that problem. I made this cheesecake a few times, and I didn’t notice any cracks appearing on the surface. However, the surface won’t appear completely smooth, and that has to do with the water content in the tofu. I actually didn’t mind the look of the cheesecake at all, but I thought I’d mention it so that you won’t be surprised when you try the recipe. Feel free to decorate the cheesecake however you want. I piped some of my homemade whipped cream using a large star pastry tip. As you can see in the photo below, I didn’t use a proper piping bag for this, and that’s perfectly fine. Just cut off the corner of a sandwich bag, stick the piping tip through the hole, and you’ll be good to go!
MASTERING MY MISTAKES / COOKING NOTES
DO NOT remove the cheesecake from the pan before it cools!! When the cheesecake is still warm, the edges are sticking to the sides of the springform pan. If you loosen the outer ring, it can rip the cheesecake down the middle. I learned this the hard way. Let the cheesecake cool at room temperature and then refrigerate it in the pan for a few hours before releasing the cheesecake. It’s also a good idea to run a butter knife along the edge of the pan to ensure that the edges of the cheesecake aren’t sticking to the pan.Make sure to use soft tofu: For the smoothest cheesecake, you’ll want to use soft (or silken) tofu and blend it in a blender or food processor.Cover the bottom of your pan with foil: Because we’re cooking the cheesecake in a hot water bath, we need to cover the bottom of your springform pan with foil to prevent water seepage.Using a pan for the water bath: If you don’t have a roasting pan that’s large enough to fit a cheesecake, don’t worry. I used my 12-inch skillet for this, and it worked wonderfully.Refrigerating the cheesecake: When you’re refrigerating the cheesecake in the pan, make sure to cover the pan with a layer of paper towels first before wrapping it in plastic wrap. A lot of moisture tends to build up on the cheesecake, and the paper towels help prevent some of that moisture. You can also lightly dab the top of the cheesecake with paper towels to wipe off the moisture.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post written on behalf of House Foods. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep me inspired in the kitchen! To stay up to date with House Foods or to get recipe inspiration, visit their website or follow them on Facebook or Instagram!
