Cherry Cheesecake

Bought a new springform pan for this one.

Jacki's Dad's favorite thing is cheesecake, and I think cherry cheesecake is the classic. I based my recipe on one I found at cookingforengineers.com - the first time I've seen that! They do the coolest thing with recipe tables - basically creating a sort of abstract timeline of the prep process and ingredients.

Three parts: (1) the crust; (2) the cheesecake; (3) the cherry sauce

Part 1 - The Crust

Basic graham cracker crust. 8oz graham crackers, 8Tb melted butter, 3Tb granulated sugar. Pulse crackers in food processor till fine. Add sugar and pulse again to integrate. Pour into mixing bowl and evenly distribute melted butter. Mix to integrate. Pour into bottom of springform pan that has been buttered and fitted with a parchment disk. Bake at 325º for 12 minutes or until fragrant and slightly darkened. I then put this in the garage on the floor to cool. Cover with cloth or something to keep out dust bunnies!

Part 2 - The Cheesecake

Here I strayed from the basic recipe a bit. This is a NY cheesecake recipe, and as such does not use a water bath, nor ricotta cheese. The recipe I read called for heavy cream to be added to the cream cheese, but I opted for sour cream. I like the tang it adds, especially for a cake that will be paired with sweet fruit compote.

Beating the cream cheese with the electric hand mixer is vital. My old one is so weak it can barely handle the job. If the cream cheese had been closer to room temp, it would have gone smoother. Ha!

I used about half the recipe, but it still filled up the pan almost all the way.

Part 3 - Cherry Topping
Had Jacki pit about 2lbs of cherries. Put all the cherry flesh into a pot with sugar, water, and lemon juice. Boiled shortly, then removed flesh from sauce. Reduced sauce briefly, then mixed in 1Tb of arrowroot powder (that had been dissolved in water). Once thickened and cooled a bit, added flesh back in.

Topped cheesecake at time of slicing, keeping a bowl of sauce on the side.