Leaving the flour out of a cheesecake recipe?

[HeyImBack]

I'd like to make this cheesecake recipe in a couple weeks: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

It calls for 3 TB of flour. I have several go-to cheesecake recipes, and none of them call for flour. I want to make this for my cooking group, and one of the members will only eat it if it is GF (she'll just avoid the crust, so I'm not worried about that). Can I safely leave the flour out of this recipe?

Thanks!

[HeyImBack]

Thanks for all the suggestions. This is my first time making anything GF, and I had no idea that cornstarch could be used. I was at TJ's this morning - didn't see any GF cookies, so I will check out my grocery store later today and will do a GF crust - I prefer a cookie-based crust to a nut based one, I think. Thanks again!

[jsaimd]

You can just use 1 1/2 TB cornstarch. For a crust you can use GF gingersnaps which are pretty easy to find, nuts, GF cookies, or Annie's GF bunny cookies. All work well.

[Vetter]

Yep! I echo that about the crust. If you're going this far, why not go all the way, make her day, and you don't need to tell anyone else, so the normals won't bug out about having their food modified. I've had luck with the GF Trader Joe's gingersnaps (they're cheaper than the ones in the food co-op). And you know what else would work, cheap, for the flour? Mochi flour from the grocery store. The kind in the Asian food section.

[todao]

You could try adjusting the recipe from:
5 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
to:
4 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
and leave out the flour; or:
blend a pinch of xanthan gum into the sugar before adding it to the other ingredients. That could be risky as the xanthan gum may be repelled by the cream cheese (depending on how much water the cheese contains) but it'd be worth a try.
I sometimes use a rice flour crust for these kinds of recipes intended for my gluten free guests, but the nut crust idea gets my vote too.

[babette feasts]

I would not remove an egg white, more whites make a firmer custard than more yolks. Flan and creme caramel use mostly whole eggs and are firm enough to stand on their own. Creme brulee uses mostly yolks and is generally not firm enough to stand on its own or slice.

[todao]

You/re right, babette. I got that turned around when my fingers crossed the keyboard; should have added one egg white. Thanks for the edit ....

[babette feasts]

It will probably be fine without it, just a little less firm. You could use 1-1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch instead.

[hotoynoodle]

it's in there as a binder. i'm sure it will be fine. why not make a nut crust, instead of a typical flour one?