The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.
This being my first time participating in the Daring Bakers, I was very excited to see that the challenge for the month was cheesecake. We were given a lot of freedom to do what we wanted with this recipe, so while keeping the majority of the ingredients the same I did take a few liberties and created a Tiramisu inspired cheesecake. The result was a super silky, creamy cheesecake with just a hint of coffee flavor.
While I varied the ingredients slightly, I did follow the directions exactly and I have to say it turned out pretty well and my cheesecake did not crack, which is definitely a plus. The only thing I will mention is that for those of you that try to make this using the water bath method, make sure your springform pan is pretty secure, or wrap it tightly with foil. The recipe suggested to use a foil casserole pan that is about 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep. However, when at the grocery store, I totally spaced that part and had to use my springform pan. My crust did get a little soggy, but it was still delicious :)
Serves 8-10
For the crust you will need:
For the cheesecake you will need:
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.
2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too – baker’s choice. Set crust aside.
3. Combine cream cheese, mascarpone and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.
4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.
5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done – this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.
To top this cheesecake I simply used some whipped cream and chopped Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate bar sprinkled over the top.
Prep notes: While the actual making of this cheesecake is a minimal time commitment, it does need to bake for almost an hour, cool in the oven for an hour, and chill overnight before it is served. Please plan accordingly!
Enjoy!
Richard
April 2, 2010 at 9:13 amThis looks great, can’t wait to try!!!!
Carrie
June 18, 2009 at 2:54 pmthis looks so insanely good. may 2009 was my first month of daring bakers so i had just missed this challenge.
JennyBakes
June 5, 2009 at 8:05 amThis sounds delicious. I just love a coffee version of this recipe! Sorry I am late in getting to your post. I’m determined to visit each of the 1k+ Daring Bakers who did this challenge. Thanks for being a part of it!
Jenny of JennyBakes
UK Foodie
May 28, 2009 at 7:57 amMMmmmmmmmm, looks great.
Michelle
April 30, 2009 at 7:06 pmWelcome to the Daring Bakers and what a BEAUTIFUL cheesecake!
Deseree
May 4, 2009 at 11:09 amThank you Michelle!
Deseree
April 30, 2009 at 1:54 pmThanks Chanta and Asti!
asti
April 29, 2009 at 8:58 pmuuu.. a new twist to my favourite dessert. Love it!
Chantal
April 29, 2009 at 4:01 pmWelcome to DB, great first challenge…I love tiramisu!
Holly
April 29, 2009 at 8:59 amWow! Your cheesecake looks fantastic! I’ll have to try the changes you made sometime.
Deseree
April 29, 2009 at 2:29 pmThanks Holly!
Deseree
April 28, 2009 at 2:24 pmThanks Claire! I haven’t tried to make actual tiramisu yet, but I do have quite a few lady fingers left over so I might just give it a shot soon.
Thank you Dragon!
Thanks for the welcome Memoria, welcome to you too!
Thank you Audax and Morgana!
Thanks Zoe! It was very rich and creamy :)
Thanks Marta! The flavors did go very well together and when I took my first bite I was thinking this does remind me of tiramisu, just a little richer :)
Thanks Ramya! It makes me drool too. Good thing I still have a slice or two left. ;-)
Ramya
April 28, 2009 at 6:37 amCongrats on completing your first DB’s challenge. What a creative job. The word Tiramisu makes me drool. Loved your cake.
Marta
April 28, 2009 at 6:34 amThat’s so creative!! The flavours of tiramisu must go together perfectly with the mild tang of the cheesecake, plus the texture of the two desserts is very similar, so this cake must really remind you of a tiramisu while you eat it. Good job!
zoe
April 28, 2009 at 4:57 ammmm! It looks so rich and creamy just from the picture! Great job!
morgana
April 27, 2009 at 11:53 pmI love tiramisu, this cheese cake must be really delicious.
What a good idea!!! Congratulations.
Meeta
April 27, 2009 at 10:39 pma great idea for a cheesecake! i would have loved to have seen the layers! well done!
Audax Artifex
April 27, 2009 at 9:16 pmBravo on your first challenge it was a great success I think looking at the picture which is superb. Again bravo yours from Australia, Audax.
Memoria
April 27, 2009 at 5:35 pmBeautiful capture of a beautiful cheesecake!! This was my first challenge, too! Welcome!
Dragon
April 27, 2009 at 5:18 pmI love the all the flavours in this! Great job on this month’s challenge.
Claire
April 27, 2009 at 3:14 pmYum! Looks wonderful. Tiramisu is one of those recipes that I want to try but haven’t…looks great!