Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The feeling of pride lingers - Passover Cheesecake

As I have mentioned in the past, I consider myself to be a decent baker when it comes to taste, but less than proficient when it comes to aesthetics. Every now and then, however, I surprise myself and make something that both looks and tastes pretty darn good. Such was the case with this kosher for Passover cheesecake that I made a couple of weeks ago in Denver.

Now, I can't really eat much cheesecake because it hurts my belly, and even a few bites of this intense richness (you'll see how just how rich when you read the ingredients below), but it was well worth the aching tummy. Rich, moist, and most importantly beautiful. It was a proud moment. Looking at these pix, I'm still beaming...

The recipe was a combination of the Barefoot Contessa's cheesecake recipe and a macaroon crust from a Philadelphia Cream Cheese Recipe.

Here they are...

The crust:
(adapted from Philadelphia 3-step Macaroon Cheesecake):
-2 cups soft coconut macaroon cookie crumbs (I used homemade macaroons, but store bought would work just fine)
-2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the crust, combine the graham crackers, sugar, and melted butter until moistened. Pour into a 9-inch springform pan. With your hands, press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan and about 1-inch up the sides. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

The cheesecake:
(adapted from the Barefoot Contessa's Raspberry Cheesecake)

For the filling:
  • 2 1/2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 5 whole extra-large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the filling:
  • 1 cup red jelly (not jam), such as currant, raspberry, or strawberry
  • 3 half-pints fresh raspberries
Directions:

Raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees F.

To make the filling, cream the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce the speed of the mixer to medium and add the eggs and egg yolks, 2 at a time, mixing well. Scrape down the bowl and beater, as necessary. With the mixer on low, add the sour cream, lemon zest, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly and pour into the cooled crust.

Bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven temperature down to 225 degrees F and bake for another 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn the oven off and open the door wide. The cake will not be completely set in the center. Allow the cake to sit in the oven with the door open for 30 minutes. Take the cake out of the oven and allow it to sit at room temperature for another 2 to 3 hours, until completely cooled. Wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Remove the cake from the springform pan by carefully running a hot knife around the outside of the cake. Leave the cake on the bottom of the springform pan for serving.



To make the topping, melt the jelly in a small pan over low heat. In a bowl, toss the raspberries and the warm jelly gently until well mixed.



Arrange the berries on top of the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

do i have to wait for passover to eat that?

next year in brooklyn!