Cranberry-Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

 Our family has a tradition that every day-after-Thanksgiving we gather at my aunt & uncle's house for "Lefse Day."  They make lefse (a Norwegian flatbread) from leftover mashed potatoes and we all bring our leftover pies, and we eat turkey, stuffing and whatever else wraps in lefse and then eat a bunch of desserts.  It's a hard life. 

I took the opportunity to try two new dessert recipes, both of which were awesome, and both of which we obviously needed because we only had this many pies:

 Like I said, it's a hard life.  This year it was also like the christening of my aunt & uncle's amazing new kitchen renovation/addition that they need and deserve, as their ELEVEN kids are mostly adults and many now bringing two and three children in tow when they visit.  It's so fun to see all the next generation playing together.  While I sit and eat lots of pie.  And trade funny insults with my brother.  Who I am SO glad is back from England.  We also cooked up - and executed - a pretty good practical joke.  Which I cannot confess to on this public forum.  I digress.

One that I made is this chocolate-crusted, chocolate-cranberry-swirled round of creamy nirvana.  Definitely one of my favorite cheesecakes I've made.  I'm really into cranberries this season, too.  Oh, and did you see the cranberry cream pie in the pic above?  One of my cousins made it.  I was super flattered. 

 Cranberry-Chocolate Cheesecake (print recipe)
2 cups fresh cranberries, picked over
1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
2/3 cup cranberry or orange juice
1 1/2 cups finely crushed chocolate wafer cookies
3 T all-purpose flour, divided
1/3 cup butter, melted
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

1.  Prepare cranberry sauce: In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, 3/4 cup sugar, and cranberry or orange juice.  Cook and stir over medium-high heat until mixture comes to boiling; reduce heat.  Boil gently, uncovered, for 3 to 4 minutes or until cranberries pop, stirring occasionally.  Cool to room temperature.  (Makes 1 3/4 cups.)

2.  Preheat oven to 375.  For crust, in a medium bowl, combine crushed chocolate cookies and 1 T flour; stir in melted butter.  Press mixture evenly onto the bottom and 1 1/2 to 2 inches up the side of a 9-inch springform pan; set aside.

3.  For filling, in a large bowl, combine cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, vanilla and the remaining 2 T flour.  Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined.  Add eggs and milk; beat just until combined.  Divide filling in half.

4.  Stir 3/4 cup of the cranberry sauce into melted chocolate; stir chocolate mixture into half of the filling.  Pour chocolate filling into crust-lined pan, spreading evenly.  Spoon plain filling over chocolate filling; swirl gently to marble.

5.  Place springform pan in a shallow baking dish.  Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until a 2 1/2-inch area around the outside edge appears set when gently shaken.

6.  Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.  Using a small knife, loosen crust from side of pan; cool for 30 minutes.  Remove side of pan; cool cheesecake completely on rack.  Cover and chill for at least 4 hours before serving.  Serve with remaining cranberry sauce.  Makes 12 servings.

Recipe from Better Homes & Gardens Holiday Baking magazine, December 2010

Lemon Meringue Cheesecake

What I don't get is why I didn't used to like cheesecake. When I was younger cheese turned into cake seemed wrong. But now it seems...Oh. So. Right.

I think this is the biggest cheesecake I've made (in my NEW 10-inch springform!) Definitely the most successful. It is divine! One person I served this to said it was better than the Cheesecake Factory. I understand he was being polite and possibly exaggerating, but I'd say he wasn't far off. Only it served up a little messy because I didn't have wax paper between each slice (how do they do that?) But I did try a new trick: slicing with dental floss, and that did a pretty good job.

Anyway. This cheesecake is fabulous. If you like cheesecake (who doesn't?) and lemon (who doesn't?), make it. Love the toasty marshmallow meringue and definitely serve it up with fresh raspberries if available. Wowzah.

Lemon Meringue Cheesecake
Crust:

1 3/4 cups crushed shortbread cookies (about 24 Lorna Doones)

6 T unsalted butter, melted

3 T sugar

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Cheesecake Filling:

2 1/2 pounds cream cheese, softened (that's 40 ounces or 5 (8-oz.) bars)

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

5 large eggs

2 egg yolks

1/3 cup whipping cream

1 T vanilla

2 T fresh lemon juice

2 tsp pure lemon extract

1/2 tsp lemon oil, if available

Zezt of 1 lemon, finely minced

Finishing Touches:

Store-bought lemon curd

1 (7-oz.) jar marshmallow creme

Raspberries

Mint leaves

1. Preheat oven to 325. For crust, mix all ingredients and press into bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Wrap outside of pan with foil to ensure no leakage of batter into water or water into cake. Set a roasting pan filled halfway with water in the oven.

2. For cheesecake filling, in a mixer bowl, blend cream cheese with sugar and flour. Add condensed milk and blend well. Then add eggs, egg yolks, whipping cream, vanilla, lemon juice, lemon extract and lemon oil and blend well on low speed, making sure no cream cheese is stuck at the bottom well of mixing bowl. Fold in lemon zest.

3. Spoon filling into prepared pan. Place cheesecake gently in water bath. Bake 45 to 60 minutes or until cheesecake is just set. Turn off oven, open oven door, and let cool in oven at least 1 hour. Refrigerate cheesecake overnight.

4. To garnish cheesecake, the next day or once the cake is well-chilled at least 8 hours adn 1 1/2 hours before you want to serve it, unmold cake and cover with half of the lemon curd. Then add marshmallow creme in dollops.

5. Preheat oven to 425 and position oven rack to upper third position. Place cake in oven briefly to brown top (you can also use Broil setting but watch it carefully - I broiled and it took less than 2 minutes.)

6. Serve cake, offering remaining lemon curd, whisked so that it is smooth. Garnish with fresh raspberries and a few mint leaves.Recipe adapted from A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Cheesecake

I honestly don't know what more I can say than the pictures convey. It was my friend's birthday so I got to make one of the truly decadent recipes in my file, a cake that I just can't get away with every day. We had recently gone to The Cheesecake Factory so I had creamy rich indulgence on the brain. And I had finally learned my lesson that you have to have the right size springform pan for the job, so I was pretty sure it would turn out well. And it did, very, very well. (Yes, that's a thick layer of caramel on the bottom there, mmm...)Chocolate Caramel Pecan Cheesecake
Crust:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

6 T butter, melted

Filling:

1 pkg (14 oz.) KRAFT caramels

1 can (5 oz.) evaporated milk (2/3 cup)

1 cup pecan halves, chopped

2 pkgs (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

4 squares (1 oz. each) semi-sweet chocolate, melted, cooled slightly

1 tsp vanilla

Thawed Cool Whip, optional

Crust: Heat oven to 350. Mix crumbs and butter. Press onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 10 minutes.

Filling: Microwave caramels and milk in small bowl on HIGH 4 minutes or until melted, stirring halfway through heating time. Pour over crust. Sprinkle with pecans.

Beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition, just until blended. Blend in melted chocolate and vanilla; pour over pecans. Place pan on cookie sheet.

Bake 45 minutes or until center is almost set. Run small knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Garnish with whipped topping and additional chopped pecans if desired. Makes 12 servings.

Recipe from www.bakerschocolate.com