Monday, July 23, 2018

Rosie Makes Cheesecake.

I love a good cheesecake.
And one is never farther away than my refrigerator.
I had cream cheese.
I had ricotta cheese.
I had cottage cheese.
I had cherries for topping.

I got a cherry-topped cheesecake!

And I'm making it up as I go along.
That's the best part.

I didn't want a great big cheesecake.
I wanted a small one to fit my 6 1/2" spring form pan.
And that's exactly what I got.
 
For the cheesecake crust:    
 10 gingersnaps
4 honey graham crackers
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar
Place all ingredients in processor and... well, process.  Until nicely crumbled.
Press evenly into bottom and sides of 6 1/2" spring form pan - about 1/4" thick.
  
 
 For the filling:
 1 stick cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup cottage cheese
1/3 cup sugar
zest and juice of one lemon
1 TB vanilla
2 eggs
2 TB cornstarch

Process all ingredients until smooth.
Pour into spring form pan.
Wrap pan in heavy duty foil and place in bain Marie.
That means put it in a baking dish with water half-way up the sides.
 A bain Marie is simply a hot water bath.  It's controlled, even cooking and is used for melting chocolate and making custards and cheesecakes.

Bake in a 325° oven for 55-60 minutes.  
The very center should be slightly jiggly.
I rotated my pan halfway through.  And you might want to cover with foil to keep from darkening too much.
Remove from oven and let cool before topping.

  

 I had a bunch of cherries which Mr. Hawthorne was kind enough to pit for me.

Cherry Topping
2 cups pitted cherries
1/4 cup sugar
juice and zest of 1/2 lemon

Mix all ingredients in small saucepan.
Bring to a boil, smashing cherries.

Make a slurry of 1 TB cornstarch and 2 TB water.
Add to cherry mixture, reduce to simmer, and stir until thickened.
  
 Slurry into cherries.

 Stir until thickened.
Just a couple of minutes.

 After the cheesecake has cooled,
remove from pan.

 Pour cherry topping over cheesecake.
  
 
 Let the cherries drool down the sides.



 Ta daaaaaa!

 And we have cherry cheesecake.
 Lovely, smooth texture.

Enjoy!


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