I am hoping to make the Pumpkin Cheesecake from RHC and would consider using up some frozen cream cheese and whip cream from my freezer to do so.  Has anyone done this?  I know it’s fine for some things, but wasn’t sure if this will affect the texture of the cheesecake.  About 1/2 of the cream cheese is not frozen and I’d be using all of the the whip cream from frozen.  I’d love to not have to buy some fresh ones but don’t want to waste good ingredients if it’s a disaster waiting to happen!!  Thanks in advance!

I haven’t done this, and I hesitate to say for sure whether it will work, but maybe.  The cream cheese will probably be OK.

Buy the heavy cream?  When cream is frozen, the ice crystals that form puncture the little membranes around the bits of milkfat, so that it leaks out when warmed and separates.  If you use it in something that is emulsified with eggs (like a cake) or chocolate (like ganache), the emulsifier holds everything together and it’s fine.  So the question is whether or not the pumpkin cheesecake has enough emulsifiers in the eggs to pull it off. 

You might try a couple of test ramekins, one as written and one with a little extra egg.

If you decide not to try it, frozen cream cheese works perfectly for pie crust and Jeanne reports that frozen cream works in ganache (probably dark, I’d hesitate to try the whipped variety).

I’m a bit uncertain on this one, too!!  I may go out and get more cream and save the frozen stuff for another use…I may try and immersion blend the cream first and see if that has any effect on it…I’ve had amazing success with immersion blending and emulsification so if I can get it ok before adding it to the other ingredients, I may try it!

Please report back!

Hi, Sherrie!

I did some googling, and I have mostly found that you CAN use frozen cream cheese for cheesecake.  It also says that if you beat the cream cheese, alone, for a long time (5-10 minutes), it will nearly restore it’s original creamy texture.  Kind of reminds you of fussy mousseline, doesn’t it??  The consensus also appears to be that, when mixed with the eggs and such and baked, it is fine. 

Do report back, though!!!!

Frozen cream cheese definitely works in pie crust, though, so you can always use it there!

—ak

I opted for the frozen cream cheese and 1/2 fresh and didn’t want to risk it with the frozen whipped cream.  Will let you know how it turns out as I have had some issues with cheesecakes being underdone.

The cheesecake was wonderful!  Very creamy and every bit as delicious as the 6” version I made with non-frozen cream cheese.  I did bake mine a little longer (5/10 mins.) as the temp dropped significantly after putting the cake in the oven.  I let it sit in the oven for 1 hour following the bake time.  I think I have finally figured cheesecake baking!

YAY!!!!!

And, I might add, Woot!

Congratulations!  And thanks for sharing with us that the frozen cream cheese worked well