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How to Make Cheesecake (Without Sour Cream)

How to Make Cheesecake (Without Sour Cream)

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There are many, many different ideas of what is considered a good dessert. Some people believe that the sweeter something is, the more of a dessert it can be called.

On the other hand, there are some people who believe that the amount of time that is put into desserts dictates how “good” the dessert is going to be.

No matter what your thoughts on dessert are, you can surely agree that there are countless ideas of what desserts are good and what aren’t.

With that being said, there are obviously going to be plenty of variants on common dessert dishes. This can be found especially with cheesecake, pies, and cakes, as people create recipes that cater toward their idea of what makes up a good dessert.

How to Make Cheesecake (Without Sour Cream)

Someone who values a denser cake will make a recipe for that, while someone who wants a light and airy cake may make a recipe for that. All of the different dessert recipes out there reflect just how many opinions there are on the best ways to make a certain food.

Of course, this also means that there will be some recipes that stand out from the rest. If there is any dessert with recipes that cover a broad range of preferences, then it is going to be the cheesecake.

There are already many different flavors that people can choose to opt for, but there are also variants of the cheesecake that are made for people with dietary restrictions as well as recipes that are made so that people who have trouble cooking or people who have a lot to do during the day can make something that suits them.

A good example of this is when people consider making a type of cheesecake that is known as a “no-bake” cheesecake.

These cheesecakes may taste slightly different than their traditional counterparts, but they are known for being considerably easier to make, as you no longer have to wrestle with the cake during the cooking process.

With cheesecakes in particular, substitutions are common for a variety of reasons. For some people, it is a dietary restriction surrounding what kind of dairy can be eaten and what can’t be.

For other people, it might just be what is available in the current kitchen at the time someone decides to start making a cheesecake. One common substitution that you are going to come across is the idea of removing sour cream from the cheesecake.

Sour cream is a common part of most cheesecakes, but it isn’t necessarily a crucial part of it. There are certainly ways that you can substitute sour cream in the cheesecake for something that will offer a similar taste, texture, and overall result.

One thing you will need to keep in mind is that the substitution that works best for your recipe will depend heavily on the other ingredients that are called for, and that there may be some degree of trial and error.

Using the Closest Alternative

One of the best solutions that you can consider in this situation is to go with the closest type of alternative that you can get.

When you are trying to replace sour cream in your cheesecake, the closest alternative that most people will think of is something known as Crème fraiche.

This is a dairy product that still falls under the category of sour cream, but it is commonly used in cheesecake specifically and the specific name of “Crème fraiche” is heavily regulated, so it may be easier to find this for your cheesecake than to try and finagle a brand-new alternative out of thin air.

Unfortunately, there are some places and situations where Crème fraiche may not be something that you can purchase easily.

In this case, you may want to consider another alternative, although you should keep in mind that the alternatives following Crème fraiche will not be quite as close in taste and texture.

Working with What You Have

Yogurt in a glass bowl

Not everyone is going to have a full container of Crème fraiche at their home that is ready to be used in a cheesecake emergency. In these situations, there are a few different things that you can do.

If you are making a smaller cheesecake, you can make use out of full-fat Greek yogurt. Even if you want to make a healthier cheesecake, it is important that you look for full-fat yogurt in particular.

Sour cream is not included in cheesecakes for the sake of humor. It plays an important chemical role in the cheesecake, using its very high fat content in the cooking process to give you the texture and mixture that you are looking for.

Naturally, there won’t be many things that come as close to matching the fat content of sour cream.

Greek yogurt that is made with full-fat or whole-milk yogurt is going to have the closest amount of fat compared to sour cream, making this variant of yogurt one of the best and easiest methods to obtain when you are planning to make a cheesecake.

Keep in mind that Greek yogurt tends to be on the runnier side of things, especially compared to the sour cream that is being substituted. What this means is that you may need to be prepared for a case where your cheesecake isn’t the right texture or consistency.

Thankfully, it is pretty easy to add some thickening agents to cheesecake to try and bring that firm and solid consistency back.

Even if it isn’t a lot of trouble to be aware of this, it is still something that you will want to keep in mind so that you are not worried or taken aback if the cheesecake is a little bit wobbly after you substitute the sour cream for Greek yogurt, even if it is full fat.

This is going to be one of the best methods that you can consider for replacing the sour cream in your cheesecake recipe.

It isn’t always easy to replace one of the core ingredients in a recipe, but cheesecakes are so versatile and easy for relative beginners to work with that it can be easily circumvented.

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