Curb your cheesecake: Avoid these cheese choices for baking
Other cakes change according to the type of holiday and season, but cheesecake remains a staple 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 poor purchasing decision can significantly impact 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 more commonly purchased. Choosing such curd cheese for cheesecake doesn't have to be a bad decision—provided 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, plain full-fat or semi-fat curd cheese without added cream, which increases the product's caloric content, is much better.
Beware of cheeses containing modified starch and guar gum. These substances are not only unnecessary but can also significantly affect the texture of the baked cake. Cheesecakes with these additives often collapse after baking, and their centers become rubbery. Avoid products with added preservatives as well—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 flavorless. 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.
Cheesecake with mascarpone or Philadelphia cheese
Katarzyna Bosacka, a well-known online healthy eating advocate, 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 six times more, with 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.
Putin WON'T STOP – The West Must Act NOW | Gen. Ben Hodges on Ukraine, NATO & The West
Avoid homogenized and spreadable cheeses
In theory, you can make a cake from such cheeses, but it will be 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 trace of white cheese—there is milk, cream, sugar, starch, glucose-fructose syrup, milk powder, and artificial flavors.
