Low protein cream cheese

A low protein cream cheese composition comprising:

• (a) about 33 to about 40 percent fat;
• (b) about 50 to about 55 percent moisture;
• (c) less than about 6.5 percent protein;
• and
• (d) a stabilizer composition comprising about 0.1 to about 0.5 percent of a first stabilizer comprising carob gum and about 0.01 to about 0.15 percent of a second stabilizer comprising xanthan gum, the relative amounts of the fat, the moisture, the protein and the first and the second stabilizer being balanced such that the low protein cream cheese composition provides a cheesecake having a yield stress in the range of about 800 to about 1200 pascals at the center of the cheesecake, the low protein cream cheese providing the cheesecake with a yield stress higher than a yield stress in a cheesecake made with the same ingredients in the same amounts but using one of the first and second stabilizers.

A method of making a cheesecake, the method comprising:

• (1) providing a low protein cream cheese product, the low protein cream cheese product comprising
• (a) about 33 to about 40 percent fat;
• (b) about 50 to about 55 percent moisture;
• (c) less than about 6.5 percent protein;
• and
• (d) a stabilizer composition comprising about 0.1 to about 0.5 percent of a first stabilizer and about 0.01 to about 0.15 percent of a second stabilizer, wherein the first stabilizer is selected from the group consisting of carob gum and tara gum and the second stabilizer is selected from the group consisting of xanthan gum, carrageenan, maltodextrin, pectin, inulin, starch, gelatin, and agar, the relative amounts of the fat, the moisture;
• (2) combining the low protein cream cheese product with cheesecake ingredients to provide a cheesecake mixture;
• (3) introducing the cheesecake mixing into a cheesecake crust to provide an unbaked cheesecake;
• and
• (4) baking the unbaked cheesecake to provide a cheesecake having a yield stress of above 625 pascals at the center of the cheesecake.