Cheesecake With Grape Topping
I prepared a menu inspired by my Cappadocia-Nevşehir trip. Making Vegetable Meat Guvech with the pot I bought from a district famous for earthenware products. We brought lots of grapes from our vineyards. So I cooked fresh grape juice and wanted to make a dessert with it. This is how I got the cheesecake with grape sauce invented. Let's make it. I have about half a kilogram red grapes. Are still good but separated from the stems or not in their best shape. I boiled it for about 20 minutes and then mash it with a potato masher and drains until I get all the juices. Before I turn it into a sauce, I'm gonna make my individual cheesecakes. I'm melting about one tbsp butter and going to sauté 3 tbsp of oats. Adding some chopped hazelnuts about 2 tbsp. It will give more crunchiness and taste. And to enhance the flavor more I added one tsp molasses. It is optional. You can simply make it with a regular cheesecake base. But normally I add a "Burçak" biscuit which is the closest we can get in Türkiye to a graham cracker. Since I didn't have that one, I used a regular biscuit along with the oats that I toasted. To bind my base more instead of further, I drizzled a bit more molasses and it is ready. I found that it is very easy and quick to cook individual cheesecakes on a stovetop. I have eight ramekins placed cupcake paper and distributed the crumbs evenly. In the food processor, I have two heaped tbsp cream cheese at room temperature. Added a little less than a half cup of granulated sugar and mix it well. And to this, I'm adding two tbsp of yogurt. And vanilla pots that I got as a gift from my follower Rob from Australia. And as a final ingredient, I added one heaping tbsp cornstarch or wheat starch doesn't matter. Give it a mix one more time and my filling is ready. Before pouring the filling, we need to press down the base. I used my measurement top. And then pour the filling evenly. We are going to cook our cheesecakes on the stovetop in steam. Just simply add until 1/4 of the ramekins are filled. Close the lids. Let it boil. And after it is boiled, lower the heat to candlelight very low. And let it steam for about 12 to 15 minutes. Landing on the size of to ramekins the time might change. Immediately take it out from the water bed to stop cooking and take it out from the ramekins and cool it completely. In a small saucepan, I added one cup of fresh grape juice I made. And one heaped tbsp cornstarch. Give it a nice stir and continue to cook simmering on low until it is bubbly. In total, I used one plus one-fourth of a cup of grape juice. I didn't add any granulated sugar since the grapes and the grape juice were already sweet. We are looking for a thick sauce that can hold its shape. But still portable. If it's too thick, you can always add more juice and after this point, just turn off the heat and add about half a tsp of butter. And our sauce is ready. To decorate my cheesecakes, I'm just cutting small parts from the stems and keeping them ready to use. My cheesecake is cooled down completely and also the sauce is a little bit warm still. Because you want it to still portable if it cools down completely in the fridge, it can be break apart and you cannot pour it. So make sure to use them over the cheesecakes while it is still warm. Of course, you can experiment with it with other fruit juices or grape juice. It was really delicious. Give it a try. Let me know how it turned out.
