Vanilla-Lime Yogurt Cheesecake
At the 2007 March Salon, we learned that Donna had recently become fond of Fage brand Greek-style strained yogurt; and Elizabeth had noted that dessert was Not Yet Planned. By sheer chance, I’ve been making cheesecakes out of strained yogurt (a.k.a. yogurt cheese, labneh, etc.) for a few years now.
They differ from cream cheese based cheesecakes in that the yogurt gives them a really pleasing tanginess and a lighter body. Yogurts from full fat to skim all yield very good results — one of my friends regularly makes them with skim yogurt and half the sugar replaced with Splenda (!), and still gets compliments for them.
The pie at the Salon was made from Fage 2%, because that was the only strained yogurt the grocery store had in sufficient quantity. If you want to strain your own from normal yogurt (easy), put about 40oz good yogurt (I like Hawthorne Valley Organic) in a cheesecloth-lined strainer/colander (fold the cheesecloth!), weigh it down a bit if you wish, and let the whey drain for a couple of hours
24oz strained yogurt
1-2 small eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
juice and zest of half a lime
graham cracker crust (I used premade)
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Mix the wet ingredients, pour into the crust, and put in the oven.
Bake till the outer edge of the batter just starts to brown (about 40 minutes)
Remove, let cool for about 10 minutes, then chill in the refrigerator till set, or until you want to eat it.