Cottage Cheese Cake With Raisins, and Citrus Zest

This was supposed to be a ricotta cheesecake. It worked really well with cottage cheese (drained and sieved) but I regret not letting it bake a bit longer. Cheese-based cakes are not my strong area of baking (nor are custard pies) as I have really poor sense for when something is, "set" in the centre, or still, "jiggly"). It is still a bit moist inside, but I suppose that is better than dried out. I swear it looked done when I pulled it from the oven.

Save for the brandy soaked raisins, this is a rather plain cake. I always disliked traditional cheesecakes made with tons of cream cheese, sour cream, and the like. This is different, though it contains enough eggs to put it on the border of a baked custard. The crust, isn't really a crust at all-rather crushed zwieback crackers tossed over a buttered springform pan. I guess what I'm saying is, this isn't a cheesecake in the American sense. I can't speak for Canadians as I've never ordered cheesecake when visiting Canada (with all those butter pies, sugar pies, and the like who in their right mind would order cheesecake? Damnit, now I know what I'm baking next). As for Britain, I have had cheesecake there, and it was terrifyingly rich, and not in an enjoyable way. Double cream? Is it the double cream?

Anyway, as you've probably guessed by the fact that the original recipe called for ricotta, this is an Italian style cheesecake. I'm certain that the whole of Italy would have my head for saying this, but (shhhh) I prefer cottage cheese to ricotta. I do. It is also much easier to find where I live, and much, much less expensive.

So. After all that talk, I'm not posting the recipe until I get a chance to make it again, baking it longer and perhaps tweaking the flavourings. I think Marsala would be an improvement over brandy, and maybe some spice along with the grated lemon and orange zest. If you're dying for the recipe, drop me a comment and I will post it, otherwise I'd like to give this a second try. It isn't by any means, "bad" but I think with some experimentation it could be phenomenal. I'll get to work on that.