Choosing the best curd cheese for a perfect cheesecake
Other cakes change according to the type of holiday and season, but cheesecake remains in the permanent repertoire for every occasion. It's no wonder – it's very easy to prepare and offers many possibilities for modification. The key to any cheesecake is good curd cheese. In this case, a bad purchasing decision can weigh heavily on culinary success.
The best and healthiest choice is plain curd cheese without any additives, which you can grind yourself at home, ideally twice. However, nowadays, few people own such a grinder. Therefore, ready-made products in tubs are much more often purchased. Choosing such curd cheese for cheesecake doesn't have to be a bad decision – as long as you pay attention to the ingredients.
Don't buy this cheese for cheesecake
Cheeses in tubs or the so-called cheesecake curds available in stores vary greatly in quality. If the label lists only curd cheese, cream, and possibly live bacterial cultures, such a product is good and safe for health. However, a better choice is plain full-fat or semi-fat curd cheese, which doesn't contain cream that increases the product's caloric content.
Beware of cheeses containing modified starch and guar gum. Such substances are not only unnecessary but can also significantly affect the texture of the baked cake. Cheesecake with these additives often collapses after baking, and its center becomes rubbery. Don't buy products with added preservatives either – they can change the color of the baked cake.
Is low-fat curd cheese good for cheesecake?
Perhaps many people will be disappointed, but low-fat curd cheese is not a good choice. A cheesecake made from it will come out dry and flavourless. If you want to make the cake lighter, use full-fat or semi-fat curd cheese, but don't add cream to it.
"It's best to use full-fat white cheese and grind it yourself. If you use ready-made cheese for cheesecake, remember that cream or half-and-half, which means fat, is added by the producer to achieve the right consistency. Such cheese has a higher fat content than full-fat white cheese," says Celina Kinicka, a nutritionist at the Damian Medical Center (source: zywienie.medonet.pl).
Cheesecake with mascarpone or Philadelphia cheese
A known online healthy eating advocate, Katarzyna Bosacka, compares the nutritional values of Philadelphia cheese, mascarpone, and regular semi-fat curd cheese in her TikTok video. The protein content already shows differences – in creamy cheeses, there are only 3 grams of protein, while curd cheese has 6 times more, which is 18 grams of protein per 100 grams of cheese. Katarzyna Bosacka also compares the fat content – curd cheese contains 3.5 grams of fat, while Philadelphia cheese has 21 grams and even 40 grams of fat per 100 grams in mascarpone cheese.
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Avoid homogenized and spreadable cheeses
In theory, you can make a cake from such cheeses, but it will come out very sweet and certainly not healthy. These types of products are highly processed, and in homogenized cheeses, there is additionally a very large amount of sugar. Often, the ingredients don't even include a hint of white cheese – there is milk, cream, sugar, starch, glucose-fructose syrup, milk powder, and artificial flavours.
