When life hands you feta make a Feta Cheesecake! Feta would not be my first choice for a cheesecake but it surprised me at just how flavorful the cake was. The chocolate did help temper the stronger feta flavor.
I love feta cheese. It is such a flavorful cheese, and I use it on almost every salad I eat, but I was thinking of other applications, what could I do a little outside the box with this wonderful cheese? I kept going back to cheesecake, something kept pulling me towards the unlikely combination of feta and cream cheese, I saw a lot of savory types of feta cheesecakes but hadn’t seen any use as a sweet cheesecake…..sigh There must be a reason, but since I couldn’t think of one, I decided to give it a try.
I knew the cheesecake would not be as sweet as a new york style or even ricotta, the flavor of the feta was just a little too pronounced to let that happen. I knew my cheesecake would need a complement to the tang of the feta, and chocolate seemed to be the answer…….well chocolate is the answer to a lot of questions, but that’s another story! I reached for my semi-sweet chocolate and prepared a ganache for the topping, for the crust I used my favorite digestive biscuits, and threw in a good handful of salted pistachio’s just to add another element into this flavor feast.
The results were not quite as I had planned but all in all, it was a very interesting and tasty cheesecake, the feta lent an interesting element to the filling, and the chocolate complimented the cheese so very well. The crust was a little bit of a letdown but did add yet another dimension to the cake if I make this again my only change would be to sweeten the crust up a bit and instead of pistachios use an unsalted pecan.
All in all the experiment was a success and while it got mixed reviews even the doubters were impressed with the flavors. If you do try this cake, I think you will be pleasantly surprised, especially served with a good cup of coffee or espresso!
If you love cheesecakes your going to love these recipes:
- Authentic Ricotta Cheesecake
- Mascarpone Strawberry Cheesecake
- Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars with a toffee crust
- Blood Orange Ricotta Cheesecake
- Chocolate Cheesecake Bars with Pecan Shortbread Crust
Feta Cheesecake with a Rich Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
- 8 oz Feta Cheese
- 8 oz Cream Cheese
- ½ cup Heavy Cream
- 2 Large Eggs
- ¾ cup Sugar
- 2 tablespoon All Purpose Flour
- 1 tablespoon Lime Zest finely grated
- Juice of one lime
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 12 Digestive Biscuits
- ½ Cup Salted Pistachio’s (or pecans)
- 4 oz unsalted butter (melted)
- 8 oz semi sweet chocolate chopped
- 4 oz heavy cream
Instructions
- In a food processor add the digestive biscuits and pistachios and process into crumbs for crust
- add melted butter to crust mixture and form into crust in a tart pan, or cheesecake pan.
- Bake crust for 10 minutes at 350 degrees
- In the bowl of the food processor, add the feta and heavy cream and process, until it begins to get smooth.
- Add in Cream cheese and continue to process
- Add eggs, lime juice, vanilla and lime zest and process until blended.
- Add in flour and sugar and process until all is incorporated and mixture is smooth and creamy*
- Pour mixture into cooled tart shell and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, keep an eye on the cheesecake, do not let it get too dark or crack.
- While cheesecake is baking prepare the ganache.
- Over a pot of boiling water in a metal bowl add your chopped chocolate and heavy cream, stirring until all the chocolate is melted and is smooth.
- Allow chocolate to cool while cheesecake is cooling down.
- Pour ganache over the cheesecake, using an offset spatula to smooth it into place.
- Use a nice layer of chocolate, it should be about ¼ of an inch thick at the center.
- Place finished cake in refrigerator and allow to set for at least 4 hours or overnight.*
Julie M.
I love your take on cheesecake here Dennis! That chocolate ganache topping seals the deal for me. And I had no idea they had raised that much for Jennie! What an amazing group of bloggers this community has.
Kim - Liv Life
Dennis… another wonderful post. I’ve been so out of touch lately, I really need to catch up and return to the blog world. Vacations are over for a few weeks (my husband just surprised me with a trip to Rome in late Oct!!) and I need to focus on the blog a bit. You alway shave so much information. I’ve just past your series on to a friend who is working to grow her blog. Thank you for all you have done for our community!!
We finally have the heat that I’ve been jealous of you having all summer… now I kind of wish it would cool off!! 😉
Kath
I don’t know how your photos could possibly be rejected, Dennis! I think you could start a new career as a food photographer! Your feta cheesecake is drop-dead gorgeous! 😉
Suzi
Your blogs are always so helpful and informative and of course the cheesecake looks delicous! Thanks.
Suzi
Elin
Chef.. that is a lovely feta cheesecake you have there !. I want a slice…can? I have never tried cheesecake using feta cheese 🙂 thanks for sharing the recipe . Whoa…BWB have collected $63K for Jennifer and her gals…thanks all the generous ppl out there for donating generously…yea…food bloggers are great people. We should help one another in times of need 🙂
I got rejected so many times by foodgawker that I have not submitted any to them for the last one year. Shall look into knapkins and kitchen artistry 🙂 Thanks Chef for the social media tips and have a nice day !,
Elin
Mike@The Culinary Lens
A recipe worth trying for sure.
Now you have me curious about Stumble Upon. I am a bit dumb when it comes to Twitter protocols an I am usually fairly tech savvy I have to make more of an effort to learn #FF etc.
GARLUTTI
Hi… after a long vacation I’m back visiting your blog .. beautiful cake that you’ve done … I love … I invite you to see my paella … bssMARIMI
Anne@frommysweetheart
I’m a huge fan of cheesecake, but have never attempted to make it with feta! I bet the saltiness of that cheese pairs really well with the chocolate! And thanks for the many wonderful tips about all the social media available to food bloggers. It’s really very helpful, especially for new bloggers like me! And I don’t mean this the way it’s going to sound…..but I’m glad I’m not the only one suffering the rejections of the major food porn sites! It can be so frustrating at times! Great post, Chef….thanks so much!
Colette @ justforfoodies
Feta & chocolate…oh, the salty with the sweet. Sounds crazy good.
Meghan
Love that you used feta, so different & daring! I bet it’s great with the chocolate ganache! I’m going to have to try it out in my next cheesecake 🙂
Sandra
I imagined that it would be very interesting and daring using feta in cheesecake, but I guess sweet and salty would work together. It sure looks very appealing and tempting..love the photos.
Also I am so happy that ‘bloggers without borders’ raised money for Jennie..it is such a great and supportive community around us.
Tobias @ T and Tea Cake
Ok. I am stil not so sure about the feta cheesecake to be honest because I just cannot imagine how it would taste in a sweet recipe. But Kudos for pulling something like this off, very daring and it takes some courage! Maybe I just need to try it myself. 😉
And the ask dennis section is great! I really appreciate your suggestions. 🙂
Cheers,
Tobias
Joan Nova
I can’t believe you get rejections from the top food porn sites…your photos are so good. For example, that cheesecake makes me want to dive in and I don’t even like cheesecake!
As usual, I agree and appreciate the comments under “Ask Chef Dennis”. Keep ’em coming!
Charlie
It’s been so long since I’ve had a good cheesecake! Must be soooo good with the feta!!!
Elyse @The Cultural Dish
Feta in cheesecake!? Who would have thought!! I like that you went through the different social media sites. I have been hearing about stumble upon lately but am still confused as to what it is, so I’ll have to do some research. Also, how exactly does google+ work?
Thanks!