Peach Yogurt Cheesecake

Besides angel food cake and sponge cake and carrot cake, my other favorite kind of cake is probably almost any kind of cheesecake. It only took a picture of a cheesecake on the cover of this month's Sunset Magazine to inspire me to create a new cheesecake.

I got to work in the kitchen with all the ingredients I thought I would need, my camera to document everything in case it turned out and I could share it on my blog, and of course a pencil and paper to write down exactly what I did every step of the way.

The cake was cooked and it was in the fridge overnight until the next day when I would finish the top. I'm not really sure what happened but for some reason I decided to format the memory card in my camera (erase all the pictures). I guess I thought I had downloaded all the pictures of the cheesecake making process to the computer already. When I got ready to take the first pictures of making the topping I realized what I had done.

So I don't have the first half of this recipe photo-documented. Sorry. I'm an idiot. Try to enjoy anyway. At least I remembered to write everything down as I went along, because I would have been sure to forget exactly what I did otherwise!

Peach Yogurt Cheesecake

Crust: 1 C gingersnap cookie crumbs; 3 T melted butter. To crush the gingersnap cookies I put about 20 cookies in a plastic baggie and pounded them into fine crumbs with a meat tenderizer. Mix the crumbs with the melted butter and press evenly into a 9" springform pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. Remove the pan and cool.

Cake: 24 oz softened cream cheese; 1/2 C sugar; 4 eggs; 3 X 6 oz peach yogurt (I used the low calorie, fruit already mixed in kind). Beat cream cheese with sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Add yogurt, mix well. Pour into pan over cooled crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, then reduce heat to 300 degrees and cook for another 20 minutes. If the cake is still very jiggly in the middle, turn the oven off and let the cake sit in the oven for another 10 to 20 minutes. It should be cooked through by then. Remove from the oven and cool completely before doing the top (I let it sit in the fridge overnight).

Cooled cake, ready to start the topping.

Topping: 2 cans sliced peaches in lite syrup; 1 envelope Knox gelatin. Drain peaches well, reserving one cup of liquid. Put reserved liquid in sauce pan, sprinkle gelatin over the top. Let the gelatin soak in for a few minutes. Bring it to a simmer over medium heat, whisking well to ensure no clumps. Simmer for about three minutes then remove from the heat. Arrange peach slices on top of the cake. When the liquid mixture has cooled a bit carefully pour over the top of the cake. Place in fridge to set up.

Drain the peaches, reserve the liquid.

Sprinkle the gelatin over the top of the liquid in the saucepan.

Voila! The finished cake.

To serve: Run a knife around the edge between the springform and the cake and carefully loosen the springform. Cut into slices. For best results wipe knife clean after each slice. Serve with or without whipped cream and/or ice cream... Okay, I get a little carried away sometimes.

Serve with whipped cream...

...or without!

SIDE NOTE: I had extra peaches and gelatin liquid so I put them all in a pan.

It made a nice low-cal snack later.

Yeah, you know, to make up for the cheesecake calories. :- )