It was Mr Man’s birthday yesterday and we intended to have a big celebration – we had just arrived home from vacation and were not counting on the hurricane that whipped the wind and rain around us, keeping us housebound for the entire day. With no markets open, we rustled up what we could and marinated/cooked/baked and flambeed to celebrate his young 34 years.
The chocolate extravaganza I planned fell by the wayside and I had to make do with the large amount of cream cheese I purchased at Costco a couple of weeks ago -hence this cheesecake.
In true New York style, it is big and bold and spectacular. I covered it in a blueberry compote which added a nice touch and cut through the thickness/richness of the cream cheese.
In my rush to move it to the serving platter (enroute to the birthday boy) I cracked it – so we didn’t bother with pieces and just ate it straight off the plate. Happy Birthday Mr Man!
Base
226 grams/8 ounces Graham Crackers (or a similar plain biscuit), finely ground
113 grams/4 ounces unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Filling
5 x 226 grams/8 ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (approx 1 large lemon)
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest (approx 1 large orange)
5 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
Topping
10 ounces blueberries
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 cup water
Base
Stir together crust ingredients and press onto bottom and up the sides of a 9″ springform pan. Refrigerate until filling is ready.
Filling
Preheat oven to 500c. Beat together cream cheese, sugar, flour and zest until smooth. Add vanilla, then eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating on low speed until all ingredients are fully combined.
Pour filling into crust (your pan will be completely full) and bake in the middle of the oven for 12 minutes or until puffed. Then reduce the temperature to 200c and continue baking until cake is mostly firm (center will still jiggle when pan is gently shaken), for about one hour more.
Run a knife around the top edge of the cake to loosen it and cool the cake completely in springform on a rack, then chill it, loosely covered, at least 6 hours. Cover with topping if you desire.
Topping
Place all ingredients together in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, cook it for an additional 3 to 5 minutes to thicken, then remove from heat. Cool completely before spreading over the top of your cheesecake.
Source: Adapted from Gourmet
© 2011, Michelle. All rights reserved.
