Light New York Cheesecake Pie 5 points

Luckily, only one of the recipes from our Bake 52 group have interested me so far.  I say "luckily" because I am currently on a good final 10 pounds of baby-weight be gone plan.  I attribute this to stronger coffee and this crazy weird blend of Omega oils I've been taking.  Shooting 3 tablespoons of oil/day is bad enough.  If I had any interest in the things I've been baking, the oil shooters would be for naught.  So, really, I should give this cheesecake a 10.  5 points for the recipe and 5 bonus points for being unattractive.  I should also mention that I don't have a spring form pan and was way too tired to go out and get one.  Some of the other members of the Bake 52 club mentioned using a pie plate.  I bought a Le Creuset pie plate at Marshalls for $12 about three years ago.  I still feel like I need to justify buying it since I don't like pie and, until quiche, had never made one.

There was a time that I loved cheesecake.  That time was about 20 years ago.  My Aunt Piggy (No jab here, she is a beautiful lady.  But I remember thinking she had the same name as Miss Piggy, but she was my aunt hence Aunt Piggy.  Turns out her name is Peggy.  With an e.)  and her husband took me to Bobby McGee's for dinner.  For anyone familiar with the Greater Los Angeles Area, this is now commonly known as BJ's off of Olive Ave and the 5 Fwy.  But back then it was Bobby McGee's and that was a song Aunt Piggy sang a lot so I thought this was pretty magical.  After dinner she ordered a slice of cheesecake for us to share.  When the cheesecake arrived, my uncle was on a bit of a diatribe about how L.A. was full of plastic people.  I dug into my cheesecake, not really understanding what exactly plastic surgery was.  When I asked he replied, "It's how they make your body parts over.  Jesus, you could have your ears sewn onto your ass these days."  In response, my Aunt Piggy lifted one cheek off the seat and said, "What's that?  I couldn't hear you."  I died.  Cheesecake went up my nose and down my windpipe all at the same time.  I puked on the table, in my lap, and the whole way to the bathroom.  Forgive me if I don't have any interest in cheesecake whatsoever.

Besides being a less than tempting treat for me personally, nobody else in my house likes cheesecake either.  I went into this week knowing that even if I managed to bake the best light cheesecake known to man, it would not be appreciated.  In fact, I almost didn't bake it at all. We had family in town this weekend and we had been eating out a lot.  Cheesecake sounded even less desirable than it usually would.  But I had already bought the ingredients and I felt guilt slacking so early on in the year.  Mr. Ginger had class last night, so I went for it.  It sucked.  I can honestly say I did not enjoy this project in the least.  Cheesecake is the bitchier cousin to quiche.  All of the par-baking and cooling, and wrapping and refrigerating and sitting and waiting.  Ugh.  Suck it up and just be dessert, already!  In fact, that pain in my butt is still sitting in my refrigerator in the garage because I truly do not care enough to finish the whole ordeal.  Once again, I would like to state that any beef I have with a recipe is all on me.  I don't blame the recipe, the book or the  hostess (Ms. Talesha of www.otherthingsnice.blogspot.com) in any way, shape, or form.  Once you see her post about this week's recipe, you will understand.  It's not the cheesecake.  It's me.

I tried to do a better job of photographing my experience for this week's challenge. I'm mostly just convinced that I need a new camera for making pretty pictures like all of those crafty ladies on Pinterest mange to take.  If anyone has a hand-me-down their looking to pawn, let me know!

Here's how I began.  See?  I really did start out trying!  Here is Red Flag #1 that cheesecake and I weren't compatible.  I had to drain cottage cheese for 30 minutes before I could begin.  Red Flag #2? Yogurt Cheese.  I consider myself something of a yogurt snob and I live in San Diego.  It's not like finding weird ingredients is hard.  Except for yogurt cheese.  Turns out Greek Yogurt works just fine.  Whew.

Next, I made crust.  I will admit, this is my kind of crust.  E-A-S-Y.  Had the recipe stopped here, I might have been on board.

 

The Finished Crust

Next I blended and blended and blended all of the wet ingredients.  I was feeling pretty swanky for having fresh Meyer Lemon zest from my own yard.

Since I made my cheesecake in a pie plate, I had a lot left over.  I tried no-crust cheesecake cups.

My Mostly Naked Sous Chef, The Dude.

The Final Product

I have a good feeling about next week.  I think it's going to be a recipe that I can really sink my teeth into (get it?)  Keep an eye out for 7-Layer Bars.  Yummmm.
If you think the Bake 52 idea is pretty cool, despite my inability to execute most recipes properly, check out the other (more skilled) bakers in our group!