I love cheesecake. If it’s made right, I could eat it forever. Jeff’s mom makes THE BEST cheesecake I’ve ever had. She makes it almost every time the family gets together and it’s a battle between me and Jeff’s sisters-in-law to see who gets to it first. This past Christmas, she made a cheesecake but forgot to bring it to the gathering… so she sent Jeff’s dad to deliver me the whole thing. THE WHOLE THING!!! Anyway, in case I haven’t made my feelings clear, I’m big on cheesecake.
Jeff, on the other hand, doesn’t like cheesecake (more for me!) but he reeeeally likes milkshakes. Even in the winter, we occasionally go to McDonalds for a shake. I like to enjoy mine slowly while Jeff is more ride or die about his; blow a blood vessel in his head because it’s so thick and get an ice cream headache or bust.
Some time ago, my mom gave me a sip of her breakfast smoothie, insisting it tasted like cheesecake. I’m sure it won’t surprise you to learn that, when I decided to finally buy a fancy food processor/blender, the first (…now that I think of it, only) thing we made was smoothies.
The recipe
This recipe came to me in the form of a handwritten note from my momsie. I tried to find the source on Google and the best thing I found was a Pinterest account that cites the source as something I can’t find. If anyone knows where it’s from, please tell me and I will gladly tag the source.
– 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
– 2 ounces cream cheese
– 1/2 cup strawberries
– 4 tablespoons sweetener
– 1 cup ice cubes (2 handfuls)
– 1/4 cup silk unsweetened soy milk
– 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Adjust consistency and sweetness by adding more ice and/or sweetener.
Ingredient changes
Cheesecake shouldn’t be overpoweringly sweet so four tablespoons of sweetener seemed excessive to me. I used two and found it sweet enough for my taste. At the advice of my mother, I swapped the soy milk for almond milk. I also used those individual cups on my blender and there’s no way I’d get a cup of ice cubes in there with all the other ingredients so I used three or so, blended, and then added more if necessary.
Ease (or not) of prep
It takes about 15 minutes to measure all the ingredients, wash berries, etc. Otherwise this is the classic put-crap-in-a-bowl-and-stir method so I’m in. Our Ninja has a one or two horsepower motor in it so it might be easy to make but it sure as shit isn’t quiet!
The Boyfriend Test: Pass, with comments
Jeff enjoyed his smoothie but he could taste the cheese too much so he asked for changes. I’ve made them a few times now so when I make his, I use less cottage cheese, no cream cheese at all, and I add a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream. He says this way is much better.
Picky Eater Test: Solid pass
Cheesecake without having to either make a cheesecake or wait impatiently for a holiday to roll around? Yes please! I really like the cheesy flavour Jeff complained about and it’s sweet without being oh-this-is-a-cup-of-sugar kind of sweet. I usually make these for dessert but I’ve also had one for breakfast or lunch because it’s pretty high in protein. I’m just waiting to see how long it takes for one of my neighbours to come banging on the door because the Ninja is louder than some heavy machinery.
The Curmudgeonly Cook 