Finally!

After months of pondering and reflecting, I finally took on the cheese-free classic New York style cheesecake in honour of my roommate's birthday.

I followed the instructions to the letter, with some necessary substitutions:

Vegan margarine instead of butter

• I used Fleishman's unsalted pareve margarine, which is also kosher.
  

4 tubs of soy cream cheese

• Tofutti brand is yummier, but YoSo is better for you. I used one Tofutti and three YoSo. I might do 2 and 2 if I was making this again.

2 tubs of soy sour cream

• I only found YoSo and was short on time. No complaints.

4 egg-equivalents of boxed egg replacer powder

• Not sure how flax or bananas would work in this recipe. Would probably recommend the route I took.

While in the oven, the cheesecake bubbled like it was boiling. That made me quite unhappy, but it seems to have settled in the end. I didn't put it back in the oven once the sour cream topping was on it because I didn't want it to all bubble into itself again. I'd recommend that you chill this overnight in the fridge because it took a while to solidify. It has kept in the fridge for over a week with no problem.

Cheesecake: One Step Back, Two Steps Forward

I've been neglectful because I have been busy and/or broke. I am currently not very busy and very, very broke. But there's a light at the end of this tunnel. I am so broke (and destined for world travel) that I am moving back in with my parents for the month of October. Rather than looking at the broad range of pros and cons of this action, I'll focus on what matters: The food.

Groceries are free at Casa del Mayerson and I think my mom is secretly excited to play around more with food in the name of her vegan first born. I predict the pricey and delicious ingredients to veganize a classic cheesecake will be easily acquired. I will also have the benefit of my mother's decades of cheesecake making experience.

Another tidbit of good news: There is now an alternative in the Canadian market to Tofutti brand cream cheese and sour cream, which are laden with trans fats. Yoso Spreadables are trans fat free and I've heard they are super tasty. (They are, however, higher in fat than their Tofutti counterparts. Oh well.) There is also a key lime flavour that could be an amazing addition once the basic recipe has been perfected. Yoso also makes a sour cream. Their fruit yogourt is fantastic, and is something I might consider using instead of (or on top of) the sweet sour cream topping of a NY style cheesecake.

Exciting times indeed.