Heavenly Chèvre Cheesecake

Having plenty of milk means finding ways to incorporate more of it into our diet. One of those ways has been by experimenting with a soft goat cheese called chèvre. It’s commonly used in spreads and sandwiches, so we’ve had plenty of those lately. But when I found Midel gluten-free crumb crusts in the discount grocery freezer section priced 6 for $1, I stocked up and started thinking about ways to use them. For the ginger snap crust, cheesecake came to mind. Cheesecakes are usually made with ricotta, cottage, or cream cheese, but why not substitute chèvre? I’m so glad I did.

• 3 cups chèvre
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• dash salt
• 1 cup heavy cream, whipped
• 1 tsp vanilla (or whatever flavoring you wish)
• prepared crumb crust

Beat eggs and sugar until light. Add salt and vanilla and mix well. Add chèvre and blend. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into crust and bake at 350°F (180°C) for one hour. Turn off oven, crack the door, and let the cheesecake cool inside the oven for another hour.

This will make one cheesecake if you’re using a 12-inch cheesecake pan. My ready-made crumb crusts were for 9-inch pies, and I filled two of them with this recipe.

The cheesecake was such a success that the wheels kept turning. More on that soon.