Greek Yogurt Cheesecake

Most cheesecakes try to be perfect. This one doesn’t even bother, and that’s exactly why it’s so good. Today, I’m going to show you how to make a rustic Greek yogurt cheesecake topped with a cherry sauce. Start with 1300 g of full fat Greek yogurt. Then, line a strainer with cheesecloth, set it over a bowl, and pour in the yogurt and stick it in the fridge for a few hours. Now, preheat your oven to 350° F and butter a 9 in spring form pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Then, in a bowl, mix 200 g of graham cracker crumbs, roughly about 1 and 1/2 cups. 30 g of chopped walnuts. Then pour in 75 gram of unsalted melted butter. It’s roughly about seven tablespoons. Then mix it until it holds together like wet sand. Then spread it out evenly on the bottom of the pan. Then pop it in the oven and bake it for 10 minutes till it firms up. Then take it out and turn your oven up to 440° F or 225° C. While our oven’s preheating, let’s make our filling. Add your 1,00 g of Greek yogurt, roughly 4 cups of your strained yogurt to the bowl. And then slowly add in 200 g of sugar a bit at a time while it’s mixing. You can also use sugar substitute here if you want to make it with a little less sugar. Now add in the zest of one lemon, the juice of half a lemon, 1 tbsp of cornstarch, 2 tbsps of vanilla paste, and a pinch of salt. Then let that mix on low until everything’s combined. Then crack in five eggs one at a time. After that, add in two egg yolks. While you’re adding your eggs, make sure your mixer is on low. You just want it blended, not whipped, full of air. Now pour the filling over your crust and tap the pan gently to get rid of any big bubbles. Now, bake it at 440° F for 10 minutes. Now, the high temp right at the start is going to give it a dark top. Yogurt’s got natural sugars, lots of protein, so it reacts fast. It browns, and sometimes it’s going to crack. So, don’t get upset if your cake browns or cracks. It’s meant to with this cake. After 10 minutes, drop the heat to 200° F or 100° C and let it go for an hour and a half. When it’s done, take it out and let it cool. Also, run a knife around the outside of the cake just to help it release from the pan. Then let it cool for 2 hours and then move it to the fridge and let it chill for at least four hours, but overnight is better. Once your cheesecake is chilled and set, run a knife around the edge and pop off the spring form ring. Then slice it with a clean, sharp knife and plate it up and spoon on some of that delicious cherry topping. The filling is light and creamy. The crust gives you a bit of crunch and the cherries give you enough sweetness to balance it all out. It’s not fancy. It’s rustic.