Yacon Cheesecake

First I will say, in my opinion, Yacon and Cheesecake do not mix!  This is the sweetener I used for my cheesecake recipe Friday evening.  There I was measuring 1 ½ cups of “sugar”,  Organic Vegan Peruvian Yacon, into the mixing bowl with 2 ½ pounds of organic bar Neufchatel Cream Cheese.  That was the moment I realized it was not going to work.  The mix looked as if it was curdling before my eyes.  With each turn of my spoon it binded much like oil and water.

It was 9:00p.m. on a Friday night.  I didn’t have time or energy to rush out and drive back to Rainbow Acres or Whole Foods to buy all the ingredients again and start over.  So I went through the process and completed an exercise in futility.  I could have cried.  What conflict!  Do I choose to pour it down the sink right now or do I continue stirring and actually see what happens when I take it out of the oven?

Liquid Brown Rice sweetener was requested but it was not available at the store where I was shopping.  My choices on the shelf were Agave and Yacon, and because I don’t like the flavor of Agave I grabbed the Yacon.  What I have learned from this experience is that I will continue making cheesecake the way I originally did so.  My raw vegan organic friend, I love you, but if you want me to bring cheesecake to your birthdays and Yom Kippur breaking the fast dinners you will have to eat Xylitol.

Imagine my horror watching this bowl of lemony flavored brown molasses muck created with all the love in my heart pouring into my beautifully baked Graham Cracker crust and put into the oven to bake while I moved furniture around my room.  I surrendered myself to the idea that it was not going to be perfect, and in fact, was going to be my biggest failure in the kitchen to date.  My sense of duty carried that cake all the way to the birthday party with me Saturday night where I refused to serve it to anyone.  I even took it home with me to throw it in the trash.

My saving grace in all this is that I know the ingredients we put into our efforts do not alter the genuine spirit of the gift of giving.  My friend probably still loves me, and even though I did not meet either of our expectations I am satisfied, and content.  I see cheesecake in my future.