This recipe was part of the Food Fight: Holiday Desserts Challenge which ended Nov 6, 2009 04:00 PM. See winners »
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HOLIDAY CRANBERRY CHEESECAKE SWIRL Recipe
Difficulty: Medium |
Total Time:
3 hours
|
Active Time:
|
Makes:
12 servings, or 10 in my family
Holiday Cranberry Cheesecake Swirl is a combination of red and white, tart and decadent. This dessert will definitely impress friends and family. Maybe even your in-laws! Don’t say I didn’t warn you. The walnut and ginger crust gives a twist to this classic favorite. Cranberry Cheesecake Swirl is the perfect holiday dessert. Pressed for time?…it can be made in stages, and the whole thing can be made and kept refrigerated two days ahead, or make it a week before and freeze it. It’s amazing. Don’t just take my word for it. Give it a try…You’ll love it, I’m sure.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 tbs. Granulated Sugar
- 1 tbs. Molasses
- 2 tbs. Honey
- 3 tbs. Unsalted Butter
- Pinch Ground Ginger and Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
- Pinch Salt
- 45 mL Water
- 3/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1/4 cup Walnut, ground.
- 2 cups Cranberries, fresh or frozen
- 2/3 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Orange, zest and juice
- 1/2 Lemon juice
- 1 Cinnamon Stick or 1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
- 1 Star Anise, optional, but I like the hint.
- 3 tsp. Vanilla Extract or 1 Vanilla Bean, seeds and pod
- 4 x 8 oz packages of FULL-FAT Cream Cheese (NO low-fat), room temperature
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 4 Eggs
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- 1/2 cup Whipping Cream
- 1 tbs. Vanilla Extract, or the seeds scraped from 1/2 Vanilla Bean
INSTRUCTIONS
- For the Cranberry Swirl:
- Using a heavy bottom saucepan, medium heat, cook all ingredients(cranberries, 2/3 cup sugar, orange juice and zest, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, and vanilla pod if using. Is using vanilla extract, hold off and stir in when coulis has cooled. EXCEPT the vanilla) for 5-7 minutes. The cranberries will begin to swell and burst. It will thicken, telling you when it’s ready to remove from heat. Let it cool slightly, then puree in a food process or if you’re fancy, an immersion blender. Strain into a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 4-6 hours or if you’re pressed for time, chill it over an ice bath, stirring to promote even cooling.
- For the crust:
- Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream on low speed: sugar, molasses, honey, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Add water, then sift over flour. Mix until just combined. Fold in ground walnuts. Form dough into square and wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze for 2 hours. In a 10 inch springform pan, grate over enough dough to cover base. press to form crust. Recipe makes plenty. so go ahead and keep the rest of the block frozen for next time or grate and bake it, makes a great yogurt topper. Bake 325 F for 6-10 minutes or until golden and crisp. Remove and set aside, when cool place on big square of foil, bring up sides. Extra protection for the water bath, you’ll see…
- For the cheesecake filling:
- Pre-heat your oven to 350F
- Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy, then add sugar, beat until incorporated on medium speed. Lower your speed and add eggs one at a time, and transfer to bowl. Mix in sour cream by hand. Whip whipped cream to stiff peaks, and fold into cream cheese mixture for lighter italian style cheesecake. Or if you prefer the dense dramatic new york style cheesecake, mix it in unwhipped along with the sour cream. soo many possibilities….
- Assembly:
- Pour 1/3 of filling onto pre-baked crust. Place three or four dollops (a tbs. or the size of the walnut, see the connection??) of cranberry puree. Continue with another 1/3 of filling, more dollops, then the last 1/3 of filling. Top with more dollops of cranberry puree. Bang cheesecake on table a few times letting air bubbles rise to the top. Now take a knife pointing vertically and swirl through for marbled effect. The amount of swirl depends on you, but don’t swirl too much or you’ll end up with pink cheesecake. Cound be beautiful, but you’d have to change the name. Now place cheesecake in a roasting pan, and pour enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Although tempting, don’t remove the cake from the oven. Just turn off the oven, open the door slighty, leave it ajar for 1 hour.
- Place cheesecake on cooling rack, run a knife or an offset spatular around the side to loosen the cake. Let it cool, and discard the foil. Cover and chill overnight.
- Last but not least, Enjoy!!!
Member recipes are not tested by the CHOW food team.
Yes, the crust as noted in this recipe doesn't seem to work. For those of you who want to make this, it will be easier to skip it, and try a basic gingersnap crust instead:
* 2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs
* 2/3 cup chopped walnuts
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* 6 tablespoons butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cookie crumbs, walnuts, and 3 tablespoons sugar in a food processor and...+READ
Yes, the crust as noted in this recipe doesn't seem to work. For those of you who want to make this, it will be easier to skip it, and try a basic gingersnap crust instead:
* 2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs
* 2/3 cup chopped walnuts
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* 6 tablespoons butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cookie crumbs, walnuts, and 3 tablespoons sugar in a food processor and pulse 3 or 4 times until combined; add butter and pulse 4 or 5 times, or until crumbly. Wrap the outside of a 10-inch springform pan with aluminum foil, then press cookie mixture into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides. Pre bake 8 to 10 minutes, and cool crust completely on a wire rack before proceeding.-COLLAPSE
Made it loved it and will make it again after I rewrite the recipe to make it a little clearer for myself. Lots of room to play. This recipe gives an excellent cheesecake. I recommend making it a day or 2 before you want to consume it as it just gets better.
Made this and loved it, but struggled through the recipe like the others. Didn't add the vanilla to the cheesecake base (I think we're supposed to, but the recipe doesn't tell you where to put it in...) and it was still excellent. My crust also came out wacky, but I made it work. Next time will just use a graham cracker crust, though. Thanks for a great tasting recipe!
Glad to hear it worked out. Will be giving it a shot today as well now that I have reread everything I think I did not realize the corrections have been added.
This is a scrumptious recipe, truly. My hat's off to Reneelkaslasy! I think its easy to underestimate how hard it can be to track all of the details and document them when you're so close to a thing.
Anyway, I just hacked this a bit and fit in the butter, third vanilla use, etc. It's posted here, too, somewhere. Best of luck!
Hmm looks promising. But did chow staff actually make this recipe though? What lrmiller is saying sounds very disturbing. Also the recipe is disjointed and parts of it are given throughout the comments.
Yet another issue. Step 4 reads:
"Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream on low speed: sugar, molasses, honey, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Add water, then sift over flour. Mix until just combined. Fold in ground walnuts. Form dough into square and wrap in plastic wrap. "
Fair enough. However, using these proportions and following these instructions, the result was FAR...+READ
Yet another issue. Step 4 reads:
"Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream on low speed: sugar, molasses, honey, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Add water, then sift over flour. Mix until just combined. Fold in ground walnuts. Form dough into square and wrap in plastic wrap. "
Fair enough. However, using these proportions and following these instructions, the result was FAR too loose to shape into anything approximating a square. In fact, it closely resemble pancake batter! I slopped it onto plastic wrap and it is in freezer now, but I am highly skeptical this will bake well, even if grated from frozen.
I have been baking for nearly 30 years. Please clarify what has been omitted in the recipe that would cause this to happen. Is there more than the "3/4 cup all purpose flour" plus "1/4 cup ground walnuts" required here?
Help!-COLLAPSE
A quick question: where is the butter added? In the crust, or to grease the springform? If the former, is more butter used to grease the pan: Making this as we speak and at the coulis phase...Delicious thus far!
Anytime a recipe calls for "eggs" use large. That is the norm. In baking, it is a given to use large, unless another size is stated. Using another size will NOT give you the same results.
So... pics ever coming?
oh and i baked the cheesecake today. will be posting pics this weekend. check it out!!! soo very pretty. plus i tried the infused ginger in the cheesecake base. definitely added depth and tied in the walnut ginger crust. i will be making additions to this already awesome recipe!
ingredients for the cranberry swirl: cranberries, 2/3 c granulated sugar,orange zest and juice, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, and vanilla. you want to cook all of your ingredients except the vanilla extract. if you are using the pod and seeds, add it in and bring to boil. if you are using the extract hold off on adding it, vanilla extract tends to have an off flavor went brough to a...+READ
ingredients for the cranberry swirl: cranberries, 2/3 c granulated sugar,orange zest and juice, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, and vanilla. you want to cook all of your ingredients except the vanilla extract. if you are using the pod and seeds, add it in and bring to boil. if you are using the extract hold off on adding it, vanilla extract tends to have an off flavor went brough to a really high temperature like that. so i stir it in afterwards. refer back to the recipe. i revised that section to make it more clear-COLLAPSE
45ml of water is 3 tbs.
It says to cook all ingredients for the cranberry swirl. Which ingredients do you mean?
How much is 4 mL of water???
oh i also forgot to mention to bang the cheesecake on the table a few times to let all the bubbles rise to the top. but bang with consideration of the swirls.
i'll keep editing the recipe until it is perrrfect.
After lauging at myself for half a second, I instantly thought, silly me 4 Large eggs or 3 Jumbo. I actually almost second guessed myself, reaching for my loose-leaf hodgepodge of chaotic recipes. Last time I only had three eggs, so I cup back 1/2 cup of the sour cream and added 1 tbs of lemon juice. It still worked out, just slightly lower in volume. anywho, off-track thinking. That's a pretty...+READ
After lauging at myself for half a second, I instantly thought, silly me 4 Large eggs or 3 Jumbo. I actually almost second guessed myself, reaching for my loose-leaf hodgepodge of chaotic recipes. Last time I only had three eggs, so I cup back 1/2 cup of the sour cream and added 1 tbs of lemon juice. It still worked out, just slightly lower in volume. anywho, off-track thinking. That's a pretty jumbled recipe that changes a little everytime I don't feel like digging out the fragment of an outdated recipe.
I'm going to try out some little twists and turns at it this weekend. Make it for some friends. See if it just overpowers or compliments to infuse the heavy cream with fresh ginger.
To Infuse the cream with bring cream to boil, add ginger: remove from heat and cover. leave it for 20 minutes or so and strain.
Why not really stick with the thanksgiving feel, infuse the cream with thyme or even sage....almost too many options. must make three different cheesecakes. I'll start with the ginger infused...
let you know how it works out, plus i'll post a much needed photo...-COLLAPSE
This sounds great! I'm definitely going to try this for the holidays! Just one question - how many eggs do you use?
this is the awesomest of the AWESOME recipe :)
very awesome :) i love it
i love the recipe ! sounds delicious