Need help from a cheesecake baking expert...

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
And yes, it has to be YOU, not your mom/aunt/cousin/friend/husband/...
Because... I have a semi-difficult child kid who will not take no for an answer on this kind of stuff.
(the supposedly tough stuff, isn't an issue... so it has to come out somewhere, right??)

She's made a chocolate cheesecake - that the fellows in our house INSIST be made on a weekly basis (well.. we don't. but... it will get from time to time). Problem is... She likes to experiment. Make something twice, and she's "bored" of making it. Doesn't matter if K1 would clean her room and do her chores for her just to get some.

So... she wants to make another cheesecake.
This time, "pumpkin".
I've vetted the recipe... the "cake" part looks no harder than the chocolate one... so, fine.

But... the base for it... calles for ginger-snap crumbs.
Can't buy them. (can get oreo, which is what we used for chocolate one).
So, made some. A few got over-baked, so she wants to use THOSE to make the cheesecake base.
They will make good crumbs, but not necessarily the right texture... won't absorb butter etc. to actually form crust...

So.
Anybody else done this?
How do you get the crumbs to stick together when they won't absorb any more butter?
Any alternatives to the melted-butter route?

I don't want to put a whack of $$ into ingredients, and have it not turn out...

She needs a really good crust... or the fellows won't eat it, and I can't eat it.

<meek little whimper>

Thanks.


p.s. in case you're wondering... no, this is NOT the biggest problem on my list... just happens to be the only one I can do something about right now...
 

JJJ

Active Member
Mush it together like pie crust and roll it out.

Otherwise, buy some gingerbread cookies and crush them? -- same type of flavor.

Or mix in some crushed pecans to give it that texture that you get from the crushed oreos.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Well...

Even the oreo crust was hard to work with - I've never been good at crumb-crusts (bro called mine "crummy-crumb-crust"), so never know what to expect...
The stuff is greasy and slides around and doesn't stick to anything... including not sticking to itself.
So, its not the "like oreo" texture part...
Its... how to work with this stuff?
 

Malika

Well-Known Member
Here is my brilliant idea (and you know what a natural cook I am, IC :)) Give your ginger cookies to the birds. Bake another one, the size of the cheesecake base. And ta da! (Oh, you will tell me, it will be difficult to cut and will break up all wrong... well, I said this was brilliant. But not perfect.)
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Sneak out to store and buy the box of no bake cheese cake and give her the bag of graham cracker crumbs they include. Close enough.
 

SRL

Active Member
I think recipes for homemade gingersnaps contain too much fat to stick together well as crumbs. Think of how dry the most common ingredients for cheesecake crusts are (vanilla wafers and graham crackers) compared to the texture of a homemade gingersnap.

If she's set on a gingersnap crust, you might see if you can find these--they're cheap at my stores.
Annas Ginger Thins, 150g (5.25oz): Amazon.com: Grocery & Gourmet Food
They absorb moisture very quickly once they're open, as in open at night and the next morning they'll be soft.

If she's set on using the crumbs she made you might try using the base for the Chocolate lush recipe, only fold in some sugar and gingersnap crumbs instead of the nuts. It will have a different texture (more crust/bisquitlike) but it might work.

You know--I'll tell you what I'd do with that. I'd mix gingersnaps and vanilla wafer crumbs to form the crust. Try a little and see if it works.
 

trinityroyal

Well-Known Member
IC, Annas Ginger Thins, as described by SRL above, are available at Costco. I don't know if you have a Costco nearby, but I thought I'd mention it.

And yes, I was going to suggest mixing the gingersnap crumbs with graham cracker crumbs. But the vanilla wafer crumbs might taste better.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
Gingersnaps are sold in most groceries. They are usually on the very top or very bottom shelves. If you can't get them, sub a graham cracker crust with 1/2 tsp powdered ginger, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg added to the usual ingredients (or 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice if you have that and not the others - pumpkin pie spice is what I havelisted all mixed together.)

You can buy a gingerbread cake mix and it will have directions to make gingerbread cookies out of it - follow that and then crumble up the cookies. Or just bake that dough into the bottom of your cheesecake pan (the cookie dough made from the mix) and put the cheesecake on top of it.

I have a FABULOUS recipe for gingersnaps that I can give you if you want. It was in my fourth grade math book of all places, lol. But it is wonderful. It would be a LOT easier to just add spices to the graham cracker crumbs though!
 

SRL

Active Member
Well...

Even the oreo crust was hard to work with - I've never been good at crumb-crusts (bro called mine "crummy-crumb-crust"), so never know what to expect...
The stuff is greasy and slides around and doesn't stick to anything... including not sticking to itself.
So, its not the "like oreo" texture part...
Its... how to work with this stuff?

The Oreo crust is a spinoff from a classic chocolate wafer crust. The wafers that are available these days tend to be hard to find and expensive. Taking the filling out the Oreos and just using the cookie part would make an Oreo crust easier to work with. It would change the taste a little but in a cheesecake or pie I don't think it would be missed.

are hard to find and expensive
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
SRL - we can buy the oreo cookie crumbs... just like graham cracker crumbs. In a box, ready to measure.

but... I'm either enough of a non-cook for this stuff to be hard, or else I make things more complicated than they are and it to w doesn't work...
but I can't get crumb crusts to work WELL.
So, anything beyond really safe territory is... a big gamble.

And a teenager who won't cook anything unless its a challenge!

Thanks.
 

SRL

Active Member
I'm pretty sure it's the fat content. I don't think the typical recipes I've seen for homemade vanilla wafers would work well either.

I have a lovely recipe for a Heath Bar Cheesecake if she's interested. I usually substitute mini chocolate chips but it's good either way.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
It's the fat content. Most regular cookies already have a high fat content and cannot absorb much more. The things usually used to make a crumb crust (graham crackers, vanilla wafers) are very dry and can absorb the extra butter to make them hold together and keep their shape in the pan.

I've never tried it but if this is a baked cheesecake using a springform pan, you should be able to make a crust with any of the prepared cookie doughs you can buy in the grocery store. Just press it into the bottom of the pan and let it partially bake before adding the cheesecake batter to the pan.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Insane, I have a text message out to my pastry chef daughter. I know she's working seven straight days so I don't know when or if she will respond, but I tried :) She really makes a MEAN cheesecake :cheerleader:
 
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