In the Kitchen: Lemon Lime Tofu cheesecake

I’m a little bit of a rebel when it comes to recipes sometimes.

I rebel against too much sugar or try to decrease the amount of fat whenever possible. I first read this cheesecake recipe in Cooking Light a few years ago and was really intrigued.  I love tofu (I’m Asian after all), but wasn’t sure how I felt about it in dessert form.  I also don’t like cottage cheese and didn’t want to bother with too many ingredients here.   The addition of tofu actually makes for a really light, but still creamy cheesecake.  The yogurt topping here (sour cream in the original recipe) also adds such a wonderful zingy topping.  This is a time intensive dessert (ugh, all that grating, baking and cooling time!) but has been a hit with friends.  No one can tell the difference, but everyone notices that it is indeed a little lighter, but still bright and full of flavor!

Here is my adapted recipe for a wonderful citrus treat!

Lemon lime tofu cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 8 cookie sheets)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon reduced-calorie stick margarine or butter, melted
• Cooking spray

Filling:

• 1 1/2 cup tub-style light cream cheese ( 1 full tub and 1/2 of another tub)
• 15 ounces tofu (about 1 1/4 packages reduced-fat firm silken tofu – 1 package can be used if you want a creamier flavor), drained
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup lemon curd (store bought or I have made Alton Brown’s recipe here and freezed the remainder)
• 2 teaspoons grated lime rind
• 6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg white

Topping:

• 1 1/4 cups plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Lemon and lime slices (optional)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°.
2. To prepare crust, combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl, tossing mixture well with a fork. Sprinkle mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray or a mini cheesecake tray (this will make roughly 24 mini cheesecakes).
3. To prepare filling, place cheese and tofu in a food processor, and process until mixture is smooth. Add 1 cup granulated sugar, flour, and next 5 ingredients (flour through egg white); process until smooth, scraping sides of processor bowl occasionally. Pour filling into prepared pan. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 20 minutes for the springform pan or 45 minutes for a mini cheesecake pan, or until almost set. Remove from oven.
4. To prepare topping, place yogurt, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, lemon rind, and vanilla in a small bowl; stir well. Spread mixture over cheesecake, and bake an additional 8 minutes. Turn oven off, and partially open oven door; leave cheesecake in oven 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool 20 minutes on a wire rack; cover and chill 8 hours. Garnish with lemon and lime slices, if desired.

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