Cranberry Cheesecake Pie

 

I can’t really describe how I learned to cook or bake, whether I’m referring to certain dishes or in general. It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t be able to pick up a recipe and make the thing it was telling me how to make. I trusted the text and my ability to understand what the heck everything meant. It’s a good thing, then, that my early attempts were guided by resources that had been created well.

One such invaluable resource was and still is Pillsbury: The Complete Book of Baking, published in 1993. (Two other notables are the red-and-white checked Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and Cooking Light magazine.) My mother had a copy, and whatever she and I baked from it went well. I eventually got my own copy (Mom may have given me my copy. I can’t remember.), and one of the first things I remember making in it was this simple cheesecake pie.

 

My memories of my early Cranberry Lemon Cheesecake Pies are pretty fuzzy, but I must have made it because my husband, Harry, likes citrus and other sour things. I have a hard time believing that way back then (this could have been, like, 15-18 years ago!) I successfully blind baked pie crust, although I was making quiche in those days, so I probably had it figured out. Who can remember these things.

Clearly, and most importantly, I do remember this dessert, even though years can pass between pies. It’s very simple to make, with the blind baked crust being the most complicated thing about it. The cheesecake filling is simply whipped up cream cheese and heavy cream lightly sweetened and flavored with lemon zest. No need to bake it. The topping is a sweetened cranberry sauce made as easily as classic Cranberry Sauce.

I think this could be really simple to change up for the seasons or to include your favorite flavors. The lemon zest could be replaced with orange, tangerine or lime, and any pie-filling-like fruit topping could work in place of the cranberries. As quick and easy as this is, you could try all of your ideas and eat your way through lots of fruity cheesecake-y bliss.

Cranberry Lemon Cheesecake Pie

Adapted from Pillsbury: The Complete Book of Baking

Most recently, I made this using a store-bought pie crust (Pillsbury brand seemed appropriate.) The blind baking time was a little less than I use for a thicker homemade crust. Pay close attention during the final blind baking phase so that you do not overbrown or burn your crust.

Pastry for a single crust pie, homemade (such as the one in this post) or store bought

For the topping

¾ cup + 3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoons cornstarch

1 ½ cups fresh or frozen cranberries (no need to thaw if frozen)

1/3 cup water

1 tablespoons cornstarch

For the filling

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

½ cup heavy whipping cream

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Place the pie dough into a 9-inch pie pan, being careful not to stretch. Blind bake according to the method in this post (or using your favorite method). Watch the crust carefully during the final baking step and avoid overbrowning.

2. Remove the pie pan from the oven and cool completely.

3. Combine the 3 tablespoons sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Mix together and set aside.

4. To make the cranberry topping, combine the cranberries ¾ cup sugar and water in a medium size saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.

5. Bring the mixture to a boil. Boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in the cornstarch mixture. Return to a boil and boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and cool completely. This can be made a day or two ahead. Cover and chill.

6. To make the filling, beat together the cream cheese and whipping cream with a hand-held mixer until light and fluffy. Add the 1/3 cup sugar and beat until well combined. Beat in the lemon zest.

7. Spoon the cream cheese mixture evenly into to prepared pie crust. Spoon the cranberry mixture over the cream cheese mixture and spread evenly. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Refrigerate leftovers.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Cranberry Bars, Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust

Chocolate Irish Cream Cheesecake

I get excited to cook with two ingredients around St. Patrick’s Day. No, they aren’t corned beef and cabbage. Traditional those may be, and I won’t knock them here, but this girl cooks with Guinness (or other stout brands) and Irish Cream liqueur. I’m not much of a drinker, so in order to enjoy those quality beverages, I put them in recipes.

I’ve already make some of this great beef stew with Guinness this week, and I’ve paid respect to Irish Cream by stirring some into these brownies. I continued with the winning chocolate and Irish Cream combination, however, with a deliciously creamy and deliciously delicious Chocolate Irish Cream cheesecake. Perhaps not the smartest thing that someone who’s trying to lose a few pounds could do, but I need to take my holidays seriously, even if they aren’t serious holidays.

 

This cheesecake is not especially chocolaty or especially Irish Cream-y (or boozy), but it is a nice, rich, creamy and decadent combination of the two flavors. I love the crunchy, slightly crumbly chocolate crust with this dense but smooth cheesecake filling, and the cocoa and liqueur keep it from being overly sweet. It’s extremely satisfying, and, in my opinion, needs no topping or accompaniment, except maybe a cup of coffee with another plug of Irish cream in it.

 

I must have made this cheesecake sometime in the ancient past, and I must have liked it because I kept the recipe. It needed some updating, however, and a bit of a Messy Apron touch, so another test was in order. I changed the crust to be just like the one for this Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake, since I knew that one works well (and tastes good). The filling recipe is similar enough in proportions to the Cranberry one, with the addition of some sour cream (and the liqueur), that I felt I could count on it. The baking procedure for this cheesecake, whose original source has been lost (I apologize), is quite different, though, which made me a little nervous. It involves baking the cheesecake in a hot oven (450 F) for 10 minutes, then lowering the temperature for the rest of baking.

Even though it seemed unusual, I baked this cheesecake that way anyway, and the results were very good. I’m not sure what that initial hot-temperature baking did for my dessert, if anything, but I have been very happy. Have been and will continue to be happy, since there are only two people in my house and a cheesecake really shouldn’t be divided into just two servings. Luckily, cheesecakes tend to hold well in the freezer – I like to wrap up individual slices and put them in freezer bags – so even if those pounds won’t be coming off just yet, maybe more won’t be piling on. Just yet.

Chocolate Irish Cream Cheesecake

Adapted from a few sources

For the crust:

8 ounces chocolate wafer cookies (such as Nabisco Famous brand)

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 ½ ounces (7 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 ¼ cups granulated sugar

¼ cup cocoa powder

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 eggs

½ cup sour cream

¼ cup Irish Cream liqueur (such as Bailey’s)

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. To make the crust, place the chocolate wafer cookies in a food processor and process into fine crumbs. Add the 3 tablespoons sugar and pulse until well-combined. Pour in the melted butter and process until all of the crumbs are well-moistened and they start to come together into a mass.

2. Pour the crust mixture into a 9-inch springform pan. Press the mixture firmly and evenly on the bottom of the pan and about 2-3 inches up the sides of the pan.

3. Bake at 375 for 9-12 minutes or until the crust appears firm and dry. Set aside on a cooling rack until ready to fill.

4. Preheat the oven to 450 F. To make the filling, combine the cream cheese, 1 ¼ cups sugar and cocoa powder In the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer (or in another large bowl if you are using a hand mixer). Beat, using the paddle attachment, on medium speed until well-blended, about 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl and the paddle and beat again until smooth.

5. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the sour cream and Irish Cream and beat until very smooth.

6. Pour the filling over the baked crust. Bake at 450 F for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 250 F. Continue baking for 60-70 minutes or until the top of the filling appears dry and set and just wobbles a little when gently shaken.

7. Cool on a wire rack about 5 minutes. Slide a thin, sharp knife around the outside of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Cool completely. Remove the ring from the springform pan. Chill the cheesecake at least 2 hours before serving.

Makes 12 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust, Irish Cream Brownies

One year ago: Chocolate Pudding

Valentine Cheesecake

I made a cheesecake for Valentine’s Day. Well, I made it late last week, but that’s just extending the holiday. We’re still going to eat some tonight.

Why cheesecake? Weren’t these cookies enough. No, I wanted a dessert for a special occasion. Cookies aren’t a dessert. Sure, you can have cookies for dessert. But they are not a dessert. And this cheesecake is more decadent, more romantic, sweeter. And it has a pink swirl.

I’ve been wanting to fiddle around with cheesecake for a while. Since last spring, in fact, when Fine Cooking magazine published a sort of cheesecake primer in their “Cooking without Recipes” column. It’s just this sort of Grand Unified Recipe with Endless Variations that I’m interested in, so I filed it. For about ¾ of a year. (Actually that’s a pretty short time for me.)

I adapted this light cranberry-swirl cheesecake recipe from Cooking Light magazine and tried to rework it with the Fine Cooking template, and for a first run at such a thing, it turned out really well. I suppose most people these days are trying to turn a full-fat recipe into a low-calorie one, but I thought, just this once, I’d take back the calories and see what it did for flavor. I have to say that unfortunately, as a general rule, calories have flavor. Flavor and texture and sensuality and pleasure and …well, you get the idea. And having the real thing a few times a year is much better than having something fake or almost there (and those are the good ones) more often.

This cheesecake is basic, with only a little orange juice and zest thrown in, but the cranberry swirl is fruity and puckery. I added orange zest to that as well. It’s very similar to homemade cranberry sauce, but I added an egg so it would mesh better with the cheesecake batter. The chocolate crust is dark and bittersweet (I used Nabisco Brand “Famous” chocolate wafer cookies). You could use something else to make the crust, such as graham crackers or vanilla wafers, but the chocolate crust says, “Be my Valentine.”

I didn’t allow this cheesecake to cool long enough before cutting into it, so it was a bit oozy about the middle, especially the cranberry swirl. It firmed up before we dug into it again, however, so the later slices held up much better. There’s also a lot of concern about cheesecakes cracking on the top as they cool. I, however, have one foolproof way to deal with these cracks that works every time: I get over it and just eat the cheesecake.

Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust
Adapted from Fine Cooking and Cooking Light magazines

For the cranberry swirl
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup fresh orange juice
6 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
grated zest of 1 orange
1 large egg

For the crust
8 ounces chocolate wafer cookies
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 ½ ounces (7 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

For the filling
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ cup fresh orange juice
grated zest of 1 orange
1/8 teaspoon fine salt
¾ cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs, room temperature

1. To make the cranberry swirl. Place the sugar, ¼ cup orange juice and cranberries in a medium bowl. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries have popped and are tender and the liquid has thickened slightly (it will thicken more as it cools). Remove from the heat and cool completely.

2. Pour the cooled cranberry mixture into a food processor. Add the zest of one orange and pulse to combine. Add the egg and pulse to mix completely. Refrigerate until ready to use.

3. To make the crust, preheat oven to 375 F. Place the chocolate wafer cookies in afood processor. Process into crumbs. Add the sugar and pulse until well-combined. Pour in the melted butter and process until the crumbs come together, but before they form a tight ball.

4. Pour the crust mixture into a 9-inch springform pan. Press the mixture firmly and evenly on the bottom and about 2-3 inches up the sides of the pan. Use your hands or the outside of a measuring cup to press.
5. Bake at 375 F for 9-12 minutes or until the crust appears firm, dry and slightly darkened in color (although this may be difficult to see with in a chocolate crust.) Cool on a wire rack until ready to fill.

6. Reduce oven to 300 F. In a heavy-duty mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese, flour, ¼ cup orange juice, and salt. Continue beating at medium speed for 5 minutes or until very smooth, scraping the bowl and paddle often. There should be no lumps in the mixture before you proceed to the next step.

7. Add the sugar and beat until smooth. Add vanilla and zest of one orange and beat until blended. Add eggs one at a time and beat just until blended before adding the next one.

8. Pour the filling into the prepared crust and spread evenly. Pour the prepared cranberry swirl mixture over the cream cheese mixture. Swirl the two mixtures together with a knife or rubber spatula.
9. Bake at 300 for about 1 hour or until the center of the cheesecake still jiggles slightly when nudged, but the edges appear dry or are beginning to brown slightly. Cool completely. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours.

Makes 1 9-inch cheesecake, at least 10 servings. Keep in the refrigerator for about 3 days, or wrap the whole or partial cheese cake or individual servings and freeze for a month or so. Thaw in the refrigerator.