A remarkable recipe that truly is a cheesecake. Taking a cheesecake and making it into an actual “cake” was a delight, especially since I reduced the fat ordinarily found in cheesecakes. A cross between a dense, yet fluffy, pound cake with the bold flavor of cheesecake, this dessert will replace both cakes, and is a great addition to summertime strawberry shortcake as well. Enjoy what cheesecake should taste like.

Fresh strawberries
Sugar
Nonstick cooking spray
4 egg whites
/ cup sugar, divided
1 cup (8-ounces) cream
cheese, room temperature
/ cup plain yogurt
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, room temperature
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon
zest
3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Toss sliced strawberries
with a little sugar and set
aside. Preheat oven to 350
degrees F. Grease a 9-inch
springform pan with nonstick
cooking spray; set aside. In a
clean dry bowl, add the egg
whites and / cup sugar, beating until stiff peaks form; set
aside. Place cream cheese,

remainder of sugar, yogurt
and butter to another bowl
and beat until well blended,
using same beaters.
Add yolks, lemon juice and
lemon zest and continue beating until smooth. With beater
still running, slowly add both
flour and cornstarch, beating again until well combined
and smooth. Fold in half the
beaten egg whites until completely blended. Add remainder of whites, blending until
no streaks remain.
Pour into prepared pan
and let drop an inch or two a
couple times to get rid of any
air bubbles within the batter.

Place pan in a large baking pan with 2 inches of
water. Bake 30 minutes,
or until top is very well
browned and a toothpick
inserted in the middle
comes out fairly clean. It
may crack open on top,
but will fold into itself
as it cools. Turn off oven
heat and leave in until
oven is back to room temperature, or another 30-
40 minutes. Remove from
oven and carefully remove

collar of pan. Let completely cool before serving
with sliced strawberries.
— Chef Jim Bailey is
The Yankee Chef and an
authority on New England
food and its history. He is
a respected food columnist
from Maine and is married with four children.
You can email questions
or comments to theyankeechef@aol.com and visit
theyankeechef.blogspot.
com.