Goat milk cheesecake – recipe using Farmers Cheese

We’re at the stage here now where I have milk jammed into every corner of the fridge, and the freezer is full too. And because I am disorganized, I forgot to order cheese cultures, so it’s Farmer’s Cheese all the way here, until they arrive. While we enjoy it on crackers, and crumbled on top of potato soup, cheesecake is what it’s really all about here. It’s so good, you’ll fight over the last piece.

This recipe is loosely based on Pashka, a traditional Russian Easter dish, but I’ve tweaked it here and there, as I am wont to do with recipes.

The base is a regular cheesecake base; I put 1 1/2 packets of Graham crackers (there’s three packets in a box, so 1/2 a box) in the food processor and whiz until fine. Then I melt 1 stick of butter, mix the two together in a bowl and press into a 9″ springform tin. Put it in the fridge until set hard.

Start with a pound of cheese, as in this recipe and in this instance, make it with a good quality white wine vinegar, as the ACV can be a little strong.

Put the cheese in the food processor and whiz it until it is perfectly smooth. If it hung until totally dry, add small amounts of milk until it is smooth.

In a bowl, whisk together two egg yolks and 1/3 cup of sugar. If it’s vanilla sugar, so much the better!

Heat 1/3 cup of heat milk in a pan, and add 2/3 stick of butter chopped into chunks into the warm milk. Add 1tsp of vanilla extract.

When the milk starts to bubble, pour it in a thin stream into the egg/sugar mixture, whisking constantly. Now, purists would say that you should immediately place the pan into a sink of ice water and whisk the custard until it is chilled and thick, but honestly, I never have time for that. I stick it in the freezer and keep checking it every ten minutes or so, giving it a quick whisk as I go.

When the custard mixture is thickened, turn the food processor back on, and add the custard gradually to the cheese. Don’t overmix, just until it is blended.

Spoon onto the set crust and top with whatever is yummy to you. Sometimes I drizzle with melted apple butter, sometimes I top with canned cherries. Depends on my mood!

Katy Light has a 44 acre homestead in North GA, where she raises goats, bunnies and chickens. Find her blog at www.poppycreekfarm.com where she shares the comings and going on the farm, recipes and all things homesteading. She can be reached at katy@poppycreekfarm.com.
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