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Cakey Cheesecake

"A very delicious cheesecake made with cottage cheese. Egg whites are whipped and folded into the batter to lighten it and give it a cake-like consistency. You may substitute ricotta cheese if you like."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 5,287 recipes mention both. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

The recipe

1 - 9 inch springform pan
Prep30 min
Cook1 hr

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Heat the oven to 325°F (163°C). Mix the graham cracker crumbs, confectioners' sugar, ground cinnamon and melted butter until evenly moist. Press firmly into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan and bake 10 minutes, then cool.

  2. Set aside a small portion of the white sugar for the egg whites. In a blender or food processor, blend the cottage cheese until completely smooth.

  3. Add the remaining white sugar, egg yolks, heavy cream, flour, vanilla extract, lemon juice, grated lemon zest and salt to the cottage cheese. Blend until smooth and no lumps of flour remain.

  4. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the reserved sugar until soft peaks form. Gently fold the whites into the cheese mixture in two additions, keeping the batter light.

  5. Pour the filling over the cooled crust and smooth the top. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, until the edges are set and the center barely jiggles. The center must reach 160°F (71°C) on an instant-read thermometer.

  6. Turn off the oven, prop the door open slightly and let the cheesecake cool inside for 1 hour. Remove, run a knife around the edge, and refrigerate at least 4 hours before releasing the pan and serving.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Cinnamon + vanillatop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together5,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  2. Butter + creamtop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together41,494 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,031 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Butter + cottage cheesetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together376 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  5. Sugar + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together30,777 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the cinnamon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, cream, cottage cheese, egg, flour, vanilla):

  1. Cinnamonthe original
  2. Nutmegabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, cream, cottage cheese, egg, flour, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).