What Makes French Cheesecake Unique (And Hard To Recreate In The US)

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The ingredients used to make a cheesecake recipe can significantly impact the taste and texture of the final result. For example, our baked ricotta cheesecake does not contain sour cream, while our raspberry cheesecake does. Mascarpone can add a luxurious buttery profile to recipes, while the rich and creamy cheese twaróg can bring delicate tartness to desserts such as Sernik, a Polish-style cheesecake. Similarly, the biscuit base can be made with graham crackers, Scottish shortbread biscuits, or crumbled cookies to add different flavors and textures to your creations.

If you wanted to make a French version of cheesecake, you could use fromage blanc in place of the cream cheese typically used in the U.S. Fromage blanc is a softer product derived from fermented curd. This style of cheese is made similarly to yogurt but uses buttermilk, milk, and rennet to build a sturdy texture that offers a sweet tangy flavor. When it's incorporated into cheesecake, the dessert may taste lighter, tangier, and fluffier. However, while fromage blanc can be found easily in France, it may not be as easy to obtain in the U.S. as ingredients like cream cheese and ricotta.

European chefs have easier access to fromage blanc, as it has been historically tricky to bring to the United States. It often comes in a soft, creamy form that's comparable to yogurt and frequently contains raw milk in France. FDA regulations regarding food categorization and safety have posed considerable challenges for European cheesemakers seeking to send their products over to American shelves.

For this reason, if you're looking to make a cheesecake with fromage blanc, you may need to head to a specialty or gourmet food market to track it down. However, if you do experience some difficulty locating this ingredient, fear not. You can make it yourself at home with a package of fromage blanc starter culture. For instance, you can find packets of the New England Cheesemaking Supply Co.'s Fromage Blanc C20 online. So even if you aren't near a retailer, you may be able to acquire the cheeses you need to put together an airy, buttery dessert to serve at a brunch.