Cheese & Crumb Cake by Carine Goren

My son bought me a new cook book .. Traditional Jewish Baking by Carine Goren. The pictures are so beautiful that they make me want to make everything in this book..& I might just do that!

The first thing I decided to make is a called Cheese and Crumb Cake to Die For. The picture in the cookbook is nicer then anyone I could get from my cake, but you should know that it is very good. The filling is no-bake, the crust gets baked but not for very long. The filling calls for a box of vanilla pudding mix which thickens this up without eggs. The problem was eating only one piece at a time! I served this dessert  with a mix of blueberries & strawberries that I heated up & used some cornstarch to thicken & a touch of sugar too. I did not put much sugar in the fruit since I like the tartness of the fruit alongside the sweet cake.
Here is a link to the cookbook on Amazon 

Here is the recipe by Carine Goren, (ingredients as she has in her recipe, my directions)

Cheese & Crumb Cake

Crust

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

200 g ( scant cup) butter, cut into cubes

4 egg yolks

Filling

2 cups whipping cream

1 cups sugar

1/2 cup vanilla pudding mix ***I used the instant vanilla pudding mix

3/4 cup sour cream

1 cup cream cheese *** since this recipe was already using full fat foods, I used regular cream cheese *** make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature

1 cup Greek Yogurt

Method

Preheat oven to 350f

Prepare a 10 inch springform pan by spraying it with non- stick spray & spray a 9-10 inch  round cake pan as well

1. In a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder & sugar, pulse a few times to mix well
2. Add the butter & vanilla. Process until the mixture is like fine crumbs
3. Add the egg yolks, mixing until just combined, but do not over-mix
4. Take half of this crumb mixture & put it into the prepared springform pan, pressing it in evenly. This is your crust
5. Take the other half & put it into the cake pan, pressing evenly. This is the crumb topping
6. Bake both until brown, approx 20 minutes *** I baked the crumb topping layer a bit longer so it was browner all over
7. Let cool on wire racks
8. In a mixer, use the whisk attachment… mix the whipping cream, sugar, vanilla pudding mix & sour cream until smooth & thick. The pudding firms this mixture up.
9. In a separate bowl, take a spoon & soften the cream cheese, this will make it easier to incorporate it into the whipping cream mix in the mixer..
10. Add the softened cream cheese & Greek yogurt to the mixer bowl. Beat until well combined *** when I did this I had lumps of cream cheese so I put the whisk attachment on my mixer to really beat it in. That is why I think you should just start with the whisk attachment right from the beginning, but if you don’t, I think if you soften the cream cheese well with a spoon it should mix in better. or use a hand whisk to mix the cream cheese & yogurt together well & then add to the pudding mixture
11. Once the filing mixture is well combines, pour the filling onto the cooled crust in the springform pan. Smooth out so that the filling is even
12. Crumble up the crust that you baked in the cake pan into  fine crumbs , sprinkle this on top of the cheesecake. press down gently to kind of stick it to the filling, but don’t push it in
13. Chill in the refrigerator until set.  Approx 4 hours,  I had mine in the fridge for a day before serving it
14. Using a knife that is hot…dip in hot water & dry off, loosen the cake from the edges of the springform pan & gently remove the ring.
15. To cut & serve, Corine suggests using a ‘hot’ knife to cut it. I did not do that, it was fine without but I used a think bladed knife

Enjoy!