Tourteau de chèvre

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This particular recipe from Dorie Greenspan (Around my French Table) is way too good for the amount of effort required. It is really easy to put together — the most difficult part is separating the eggs — and it makes one of the best cheesecakes that we’ve ever had. Dreamy light, subtlety sweet, with a rich cheese flavor, this cake can easily stand on its own, but it would also be great with a raspberry coulis or a really good chocolate sauce. But for now, let’s go with plain.

Tourteau de chèvre

Author: Shawn

Ingredients

  • 1 Tart Dough chilled and ready to roll (see notes)
  • 5 eggs separated and at room temperature
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs sugar
  • 9 ounces soft plain goat cheese room temperature
  • 3 Tbs cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400°F.
  • Either butter an 8- to 9-inch springform pan, or line an 8- or 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper.
  • On a lightly floured surface, roll out the tart dough to about a 10-inch circle.
  • Carefully place the tart dough into the pan and bring it up the sides.
  • Pop the pan with the crust into the fridge until you are ready to pour in the filling.
  • Whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt. As they start to form soft peaks, start adding the 2 tablespoons sugar. Once they form stiff but shiny peaks, stop and transfer the egg whites to a separate bowl.
  • Once the whites are out of the mixer bowl, put the remaining ingredients in the bowl. Mix on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
  • Fold in egg whites. Start with about 1/4 of the egg whites and fold those in as best you can. This will lighten up the batter, making it easier to fold in the rest.
  • Pour it into the prepared tart shell, making sure to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula.
  • Bake for 15 minutes. Once the 15 minutes are up, lower the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for 30 to 35 minutes more. Slide a small thin knife in the cake to test if it is done. If the knife comes out clean, your cake is baked.
  • Let cool for 10 minutes. Place it on a rack and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then remove it from the pan and let cool to room temperature.

Notes

Here's a link to the tart dough.

Ingredients discussion:

You have two main ingredients here, the eggs and the goat cheese, so don’t skimp on either, especially the goat cheese. We are lucky enough to get artisan goat cheese made by Black Mesa Ranch through our CSA. About a year ago, we attended one of their open houses, met the owners, met the goats, and saw that everyone was happy and passionate about their role on the ranch. That’s what makes a great product. And here’s the tart dough we recommend for this cheesecake.

Procedure in detail:

separating eggs
We like to separate each egg into small bowls, then pour each white into the mixing bowl. It doesn’t matter if whites are in the yolks, but you can’t have a molecule of yolk in the whites.

Separate the eggs. Do this while the eggs are cold, as you’ll be less likely to break the yolks. Another tip, when we are separating more than one or two eggs, we separate each egg into a small bowl, then dump the egg whites into our mixing bowl. This way, if an egg yolk breaks, we only have to discard one white and not the whole batch. We also do this first, so the separated eggs will have time to warm.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

cake pan lined with parchment paper
With a little careful scissors work, you can line a round cake pan, including the sides, with baking parchment.

Prepare a baking pan. Either butter an 8- to 9-inch springform pan, or line an 8- or 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper.

rolled out tart dough
We had great success by putting the tart dough between a piece of wax paper and the plastic wrap that it chilled in, with a dusting of flour. Do whatever works for you.

Roll out tart dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the tart dough to about a 10-inch circle. You might want to try putting it between two sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap before rolling. Sometimes that makes it a bit easier.

tart dough in cake pan
Work the dough up the sides of the pan. Neatness is not too important. You could cut the edges smooth if you want, but we don’t bother.

Place in pan. Carefully place the tart dough into the pan and bring it up the sides. Don’t worry too much about neatness unless you are a perfectionist. When everything bakes, no one will notice a slightly uneven crust.

Refrigerate. Pop the pan with the crust into the fridge until you are ready to pour in the filling.

whipped egg whites
Add a pinch of salt, and, while whipping, incorporate 2 tablespoons of sugar. Make sure you get stiff peaks, but they shouldn’t look dry and crumbly.

Whip the egg whites. After letting them warm to room temperature, add the pinch of salt and start whipping. As they start to form soft peaks, start adding the 2 tablespoons sugar. Once they form stiff but shiny peaks, stop and transfer the egg whites to a separate bowl.

tart batter
The remaining ingredients mixed until smooth and creamy. We told you this is an easy recipe.

Mix everything else. Once the whites are out of the mixer bowl, put the remaining ingredients in the bowl. The goat cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, five egg yolks, and vanilla extract can all be put in the mixer bowl. Don’t bother cleaning it out, that little bit of whites left in won’t hurt anything. Mix on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 to 3 minutes.

folding in egg whites
This is the only difficult part. You have to be gentle, and a bit quick, to get those egg whites folded in without their collapsing.

Fold in egg whites. Start with about 1/4 of the egg whites and fold those in as best you can. This will lighten up the batter, making it easier to fold in the rest. Now you should have a nice light batter.

the tart ready to go into the oven
If everything worked right, your batter should fill the shell right to the tippy top. We find that an 8-inch pan that is 2 inches deep is perfect.

Pour the batter. Pour it into the prepared tart shell, making sure to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula.

testing a cheesecake to ensure it is done
The knife is clean so the cake is done. Now we have to wait until it cools, that’s the hard part.

Bake for 15 minutes. Once the 15 minutes are up, lower the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for 30 to 35 minutes more. Slide a small thin knife in the cake to test if it is done. If the knife comes out clean, your cake is baked. The cake will be puffed up and browned on top. It will deflate as it cools.

cooling cheesecake
Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. If you’ve lined a cake pan with parchment paper, it should lift right out.

Let cool for 10 minutes. Place it on a rack and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then remove it from the pan and let cool to room temperature.

plated cheesecake
We plated the cheesecake on a large platter for serving. It looks nice and is easier to cut. Doesn’t it look delish?

Serve. And prepare yourself for some of the best cheesecake ever. Not one of those sickly sweet lemony things that involve cream cheese, but a real, honest-to-goodness, light-as-can-be cheesecake that you’ll make again and again. Especially after you see people eating it literally swoon and then ask where you purchased such a delicious cake. And imagine their look when you say you’ve scratched it up just this morning. We’ve made this cake, oh, probably once a month since we first read the recipe, and it has never failed to impress.

As we said in the introduction, this cake is much too good for the amount of effort involved. A definite five-starrer.

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