Lunch Lady vs Aeroplane Cheesecake

Lunch Lady vs Aeroplane Cheesecake
30 October 2014

I know it might be unAustralian to have a crack at the Aeroplane company, but this challenge really puzzled me. It was my big kid who posed this challenge when she found it on the supermarket shelf. We were confused as to how you make a cheesecake from a packet, without cheese. But, you do need to add the cream cheese, and some milk and butter. Aeroplane’s ‘KID FRIENDLY, FUN TO MAKE and FUN TO EAT’ product of convenience’, almost has as many ingredients to add to their packet mix as a standard classic, from scratch, cheesecake.

So, why don’t you just make a cheesecake? I thought it was a bit weird.

They also roughly took the same time to make.

Let’s break it down.

Time It Takes

From Scratch Cheesecake
Prep: 15 mins
Cooking: 55 mins

Aeroplane Cheesecake
Prep: 15 mins
Chill time (and I don’t mean sitting on the couch): 1 – 2 hours

What You Need

From Scratch

• 250g Digestive biscuits (you can make your own, as they are super easy, but let’s stick with these for this recipe)
• 75g butter, melted
• 500g ricotta
• 250g cream cheese
  1/3 cup caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
• 1/4 cup lemon juice

Aeroplane Cheesecake

• Wheat Flour
• Sugar
• Vegetable Oil
• Antioxidants (322 (From Soy), 307)]
• Milk Solids
• Salt
• Raising Agents (503, 500, 450).
• Sugar
• Maltodextrin
• Thickeners
• Starch (1442)>
• Milk Solids
• Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil
• Glucose Syrup Solids (From Wheat)
• Emulsifier (472a)
• Acidity Regulator (330), Flavour
• 80g butter, melted
• 250g cream cheese, at room temp
• 1 cup full cream milk

Contains Milk, Wheat & Soy

What You Need to Do

From Scratch

1. Put the biscuits in a bowl and smash them (gently, or not so gently if you’ve had a crumby (get it) day) until you have a bowl of crumbs. Add the melted butter and mix until combined. Press the crumbs evenly over the base of a 20cm springform pan. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 160°C.
3. Beat the ricotta, cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each egg is popped in. Add the lemon rind and juice. Mix until combined.
4. Place the springform pan on a baking tray. Pour the cheesecake mixture into the pan. Bake in the oven for 55 minutes or until firm to a light touch.
5. Turn the oven off. Cool in the oven with the door ajar for 1 hour.
6. Chill, uncovered, in the refrigerator overnight.
7. Eat.

Aeroplane Cheesecake

1. Line base of 20cm round spring-form pan with baking paper.
2. Mix together crushed biscuits and melted butter.
3. Press biscuit mix into spring-form pan with back of spoon. Chill in Fridge for 30 minutes or Freeze for 10 minutes while making filling.
4. Using the electric hand mixer, beat cream cheese in a bowl on medium until smooth. Add cheesecake filling mix and milk then beat on low speed for 30 seconds until just combined. Increase speed to high and beat for 2 minutes until thick and smooth.
5. Spread cheesecake mixture over biscuit base and smooth top.
6. Chill for 1-2 hours until firm. To serve cut into 12 slices, make sure it is 12!

I guess the moral of this story is, both of these recipes take roughly the same amount of time to prepare, and pretty much the same amount of mess. Perhaps the lemons in the ‘from scratch’ recipe could possibly tip it over the edge, but I’m happy to suffer a small amount of mess for a taste of lemony deliciousness.

Also, you CAN NOT deny yourself the pure joy of licking a cheesecake filling bowl. I mean, it’s got cream cheese, lemon and sugar. I sent the kids outside to play before I mixed that sucker up. There is a cheesecake flavoured ice cream for a VERY good reason.

Please excuse the cracks in my cheesecake, I took it out of the oven before it got dark so I could take a photo for you.

Oh, hey, I have an idea (ah, shit, I know, ANOTHER ONE!). But this is one I have had for a while now. I am planning on having some Lunch Lady gatherings, where we can hang out, make lots of delicious things together and talk. I want to get together with you guys and create a real community. If you’d be up for having a Lunch Lady gathering in your neck of the woods, pop me a note. I think this could be pretty bloody ace. x