Fitness food and Life: Recipe for Lemon Cheesecake in OTG (Oven,Toaster,Griller) and in Microwave

Baking in convection mode of microwave is easy as compared to that in OTG (Oven, Toaster, Griller) but OTG baked products are tastier without a doubt.

So here I sit staring at my OTG (a gift from my first company) and pondering over the cheesy lemony delicious aroma of Lemon Cheese Cake that my sister first made. Without a second thought I pace to grab all ingredients and move to execute my plan before my baby wakes up.

If you are using an oven, just preheat to 160 Degree Celsius and bake the cheesecake for 30 to 40 minutes or till fully baked. A general practice of baking is to always keep a hawk’s eye and check upper layer of cake shouldn’t get burned.

Since we are baking in OTG, remember to sniff as during first 10 minutes the cake will have a crusty sugary aroma that will change later to little sour cheesy lemony whiff indicating the cake is getting baked properly.

Also do keep turning the tin with tongs after every 10 minutes else the cake will burn on one side and as I mentioned always keep an eye on the cake to avoid any burn. If you see the black colour taking over the upper crust, change the timing accordingly for OTG. I have provided below recipe that worked best for me.

Now to begin with, I have used homemade paneer/cottage cheese which took around 15 minutes in all. Always use homemade paneer for this cheesecake.

Paneer made from 1litre milk

Preparation Time: 30 mins (15 mins for paneer+ 15 mins for rest of things)

Baking Time: 30-35 mins

Ingredients:

For Base:

8-10 Marie Gold or any Digestive Biscuits

25 gm Butter

½ Grated Lemon Zest

For Filling:

25 gm Butter

200 gm fresh homemade paneer (cottage cheese)

100 gm Castor Sugar

3 Eggs

3 Cheese Cubes

100 gm Curd

½ Grated Lemon Zest

1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

Method:

For Base:

Spread little butter or use butter paper in the baking tin.
Crush biscuits, melt butter in oven and mix crushed biscuits with melted butter and lemon zest.

Standard 6x6 inches tin

Take ¾ of this mixture and put it in a baking tin. Press down firmly and keep it aside.

For Filling:

Beat together butter, paneer, cheese and curd.

Beat in above mixture the eggs, lemon zest and lemon juice form a smooth consistency. I used grinder to mix everything. Add sugar in the end and blend again.

Pour this thick mixture to the biscuit base in tin.
Sprinkle rest of the biscuit crumble at top.

Preheat OTG for 5 minutes by turning the heat for both top and bottom mode. Now place the tin inside and keep both modes on for another 5 minutes. Now turn off the top side heat and bake only on bottom side heat for 10 minutes. Now turn on top side heat and turn off bottom heat for next 5 minutes. Again bake only on bottom for next 5 minutes. Last 5 minutes on both sides.

So in a nutshell:

Preheat 5minutes
Both – 5 minutes
Bottom – 10 minutes
Top – 5 minutes
Bottom – 5 minutes
Both - 5 minutes
Ideally the cheesecake should be fluffy and ready by now. If not then bake for 5 to 10 minutes more.