This rich, creamy, savory and decadent cottage cheese cheesecake is a pleasant surprise in taste and more calorie conscious than its counterpart ricotta cheese cheesecake. In the German culture (where my great-grandfather on my mom’s side of the family originated from) they use a cheese like small curd cottage cheese in their cheesecake.  My recipe has many similar qualities, but the crust is different.  This cake is fluffy and has a light-as-air consistency, in comparison to most American cheesecakes, especially New York Style Cheesecake which are very dense.  And since it has cottage cheese in it, I am pretty sure eating it for breakfast is perfectly fine!

The cake will bake to perfection at 350 degrees, and then rest in the oven for another 45 minutes. It will still be slightly jiggly, but take it out anyway, and let it firm up on the counter. You don’t want your cheesecake to bake too long because it will inevitably crack and will become very dry.

Set your oven at 350 degrees. You’ll also need a 10-inch spring form pan. Butter the sides and bottom and add a little all-purpose flour (*or gluten-free flour). Shake out any excess.

Then measure roughly half of a container of graham cracker crumbs. Melt your butter in the microwave, and mix adding a little water as you go along. Press the crust into the bottom of the pan.  As you can see from my photo, my crust does not go all the way up the sides of the pan. If you wish, make more to add to the sides of the pan. Press this out by hand, and then smooth with the back of a spoon.

*gluten-free option is to use a gluten-free flour for the filing and a gluten-free crust for the base of the cake. This is easily adaptable to a gluten-free lifestyle.

For the cake filing:

Start by combining 2 ½ containers (2 containers 4% milk fat, 1/2 container lowfat) cottage cheese, 4 heaping tablespoons of Mascarpone Cheese and about 3 heaping tablespoons of sour cream using a hand mixer. Add in ½ cup white sugar, and one lemon squeezed to add a hint of freshness to this cake, and 2 tablespoons of flour.

Next, separate your egg yolks from your egg whites. Put a yolk in at a time and mix using the hand mixer. Then, transfer the mixture to a high speed blender. You may have to do it in two batches. You want to achieve a creamy, and very smooth consistency so mix for a few minutes on high speed. You should not have any lumps or curds remaining. Once you have achieved that consistency, add in the basil and pulse or mix for 30 seconds more just long enough to see the basil in tiny pieces. If you blend too long, the batter will be green. (I have done that!)

If you mixed everything in two batches, mix the batches together using a large spoon until all is well incorporated. The hand mixer is fine too. The filing should be creamy, smooth, and have no presence of lumps.

Next, pour the filing into the cake pan. Place in the oven onto a baking sheet for 1 hour and 10 minutes. This is in case the pan leaks, then it won’t leak in your oven! Then turn the oven off and let the cake rest for roughly 45 minutes. Keep an eye on it. It will become a deep brown, but should still be a little jiggly. Take it out and let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour. You can release it from the pan after that and cool on a cooling rack. Once cooled, 2 hours, place in the refrigerator and let it sit overnight. This cake gets better with each day!

Place 4 tablespoons of jam in a bowl, and brush it on the cake. Then artfully place the raspberries all around the top of the cake. Have fun with it!  You may add some powdered sugar right before serving. This is so yummy! I think it has become my favorite cake so far!!!