Cheesecake is the new pie.
If you don’t believe it, just make this Spiced Cheesecake for Thanksgiving dessert and see who pays attention to the pie!
Just look at that impressive situation! It begged to be shot with velvet, like a fancy painting.
There’s fresh ginger in the chocolaty crust as well as in the filling. Traditional spices like ground ginger and cinnamon also lace the rich, cream cheese filling. It’s also no-fail. The crust gets pressed into the pan and that little touch of oil in the crust mixture keeps it slightly soft so it doesn’t shatter to crumbs with every bite. The filling is blended up in one bowl and poured into the crust and baked. The parchment circle on the bottom allows the cheesecake to slide right off the pan bottom onto a serving platter.
Raise both hands in the air because YOU JUST WON!
Happy baking my friends!
- 12 oz 53 cookies chocolate wafer cookies, such as Nabisco Famous
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1½ tbsp fresh grated ginger
- FILLING:
- 4 8- oz pkg cream cheese
- 1⅓ cups granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp finely grated ginger
- 2½ tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- 4 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 4 cups heavy cream
- ⅔ cup confectioners' sugar
- Chocolate curls
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Heat oven to 400°F with rack in the lower third. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with a circle of parchment; set aside.
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In a food processor crush chocolate cookies and sugar until mixture is fine crumbs. Stir together oil, butter and grated ginger and drizzle into mixture, pulsing until combined. Press mixture into the pan so crust is about ⅜ inch thick on the bottom and all the way up the sides (you may have a little extra). Set crust aside.
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In a mixer beat together cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and grated ginger until there are no lumps. Mix in the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and ground ginger. Add eggs and yolks one at a time, mixing in completely and scraping sides of bowl as needed between each addition, until completely combined.
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Place springform pan on a foil-lined baking sheet and pour filling into crust. Bake for 20 min, then reduce heat to 200°F. Loosely cover cheesecake with greased foil and cook until center is just slightly wobbly and cake is set, about 1 hr 10 min more. Cool on a wire rack completely, then chill 4 hr or overnight.
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Whip cream and confectioners' sugar to firm peaks and swirl on top of cheesecake; sprinkle with chocolate curls.
Recipe by Tara Bench
Photography by Seth Smoot
Food Styling Sara Neumeier
Prop Styling Michelle Wong
Originally published in Ladies’ Home Journal Nov 2012,
