Hi Everyone,

After my 2.5 week vacation, I am so happy to resume my walks with Laila to the Central Park.

The park is so beautiful now that the weather is perfect and we so enjoy our walks together.

There are so many amazing spring flowers in the park and every week we find new types of flowers.

I think New York City would not be the amazing city that it is without Central Park. I love taking photos of the city from the park.

I am no great cook and I’m even a worse baker. But last week I embarked upon a baking adventure. I made an Israeli cheesecake. I used the recipe that I clipped from an Israeli magazine. The only problem was that I filled the baking pan too much and the cake rose up way above the pan.

Nevertheless, the cake turned out to be awesome! It is so much healthier and lighter than the American cheesecake. And it is also gluten-free.

I would like to share the recipe for this Israeli cheesecake:

Ingredients:

6 eggs, separated

1 ¼ cups sugar

5 flat tablespoons corn flour

1 package vanilla pudding

1 small container sour cream

3 packages of Israeli white cheese 5%, 750 gm each

(This can be found in Fairway or the Israeli deli Zion Market in NYC. If you can’t find Israeli cheese then you can use ricotta cheese instead)

1. Put the cheese and the sour cream in a cheese cloth or clean kitchen towel to drain the extra water. ( few hours or overnight)

2. Mix egg whites with ¾ cup sugar and mix until the foam is strong

3. Mix all the other ingredients along with cheese and sour cream

4. Fold the egg whites foam gently into the mixture

5. Pour mixture into an oiled spring pan and bake in a 350 degrees pre-heated oven until the top starts to brown. Reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake for another 50 minutes.

6. Tip: Keep a tray or pan filled with water in the oven while baking the cake to lock in the moisture.

 Bon Appétit