Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Spiced Cherry Topping
Recipe created by Lauren Fortgang
Delectable any way you slice it: Cheesecake is reinvented with spiced-up cherries on top and tangy goat cheese within.
Servings: Serves 8 or 9
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 stick butter
- 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
Filling:
- 1 1/2 pounds cream cheese
- 8 ounces goat cheese
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs
- 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
Topping:
- 4 cups fresh Bing cherries, pitted
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp. allspice
- 1/2 tsp. ginger
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- Zest of 1 orange
- 2 cups fresh cherries, pitted and halved (preferably Rainier or Royal Ann)
Directions
Crust: Preheat oven to 325°. Melt butter; then mix it with graham cracker crumbs in a bowl. Press crust into the bottom of a greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
Filling: Combine cream cheese, goat cheese, and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Blend on low speed until smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl; add flour. Mix until flour is thoroughly incorporated. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping down sides of bowl between additions. Add lemon juice; mix until batter is smooth and juice is incorporated.
Remove crust from oven and pour in filling. Smooth top with a small knife or spatula. Bake cake until edges are slightly cracked and center is jiggly, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven; set pan on a wire rack until it cools to room temperature, then remove sides of pan. Refrigerate cake until ready to serve.
Topping: Place cherries, sugar, spices, salt, and orange zest in a medium pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until juice from cherries releases and comes to a boil. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until juice thickens, about 20 minutes. (It should be similar in texture to maple syrup.) Remove from heat; set aside to cool. When completely cool (after 20 minutes), fold in remaining cherries. Chill until ready to serve.
Put cake on a platter. Cover entirely with cherry topping just before serving.
Filling: Combine cream cheese, goat cheese, and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Blend on low speed until smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl; add flour. Mix until flour is thoroughly incorporated. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping down sides of bowl between additions. Add lemon juice; mix until batter is smooth and juice is incorporated.
Remove crust from oven and pour in filling. Smooth top with a small knife or spatula. Bake cake until edges are slightly cracked and center is jiggly, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven; set pan on a wire rack until it cools to room temperature, then remove sides of pan. Refrigerate cake until ready to serve.
Topping: Place cherries, sugar, spices, salt, and orange zest in a medium pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until juice from cherries releases and comes to a boil. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until juice thickens, about 20 minutes. (It should be similar in texture to maple syrup.) Remove from heat; set aside to cool. When completely cool (after 20 minutes), fold in remaining cherries. Chill until ready to serve.
Put cake on a platter. Cover entirely with cherry topping just before serving.
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