Birthday Worthy Cherry Cheesecake
What I Don’t Understand
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I’ve never really met a cake I didn’t like. If you’ve read other posts, you may know my middle son claims not to like cake.
My husband won’t say he doesn’t like cake, outright. But when pressed — he’ll often pick this Celebration Worthy Cherry Cheesecake for his birthday. In this case, it’s the cherry that doesn’t fall far from the tree . . .
I love the fanfare of a towering cake
I’m a known birthday cake fanatic. And, if you know me, I’ve probably made you at least one birthday cake. I start thinking about what kind to make my kids the day after I’ve finished baking the one for this year.
Begrudgingly, I make my non cake-eaters what they want.
It’s kind of hard to believe people waited until around the 17th Century to adopt the concept of “birthday cake.” But then again there are a number of cake rituals that I don’t understand.
I’ve never understood the concept of a groom smashing a slice of cake into the bride’s face. Forget about the fact that much of it ends up on her very expensive dress. It’s a wasted slice.
And then there’s the idea of a “smash cake” for a child’s first birthday. I view a child’s first birthday as their first real introduction to the ritual and ceremony of cake. And a ‘smashed’ cake is a wasted cake.
All this being said, I did make a mean Cherry Cheesecake for my husband this year, and I wanted to share the recipe with you. After all, a slice of cake is all it takes to make a moment memorable. This even goes for cheesecake.
Birthday Worthy Cherry Cheesecake
Equipment
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 10 oz. graham cracker crumbs
- 1/8 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
For the cheese filling:
- 2 lbs (four 8-oz pkgs) cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 cup flour
For the cherry topping:
- 8 cups sour cherries, frozen
- 1/2 cup water
- 5 tsp cornstarch
- 2-3 tbsp lemon juice, to taste
- 2 tbsp sugar
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325 degreesTo make the crust:In a large bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and salt. Add melted butter and mix well. Press mixture evenly into the bottom and up at least 1.5" of the sides of springform pan.Bake on middle oven rack for 20-25 minutes, or until edge is beginning to brown. Remove from oven and let cool while you prepare filling.Reduce oven temp. to 300 degreesTo make the filling:Combine cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, almond and salt in bowl of electric mixer. Using paddle attachment, or beaters, beat on high speed until the mixture is smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, as necessary. ;;;;;;;Reduce speed of mixer to medium and 1 at a time, add eggs, then yolk. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl after each egg addition.Turn mixer to low, add flour and beat until just blended and there are no lumps.Pour filling into prepared crust. Bake until the edges are completely set but there's a bit of wobble to the innermost 2 inches of cheesecake. This will take roughly 60-70 minutes.Turn off oven and leave cheesecake in oven for another 10 minutes. Then remove and let cool on a wire rack until it's room temperature. Once cool, place in refrigerator, preferable overnight, but at least 6 hours.For the topping:In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, add water, then whisk in cornstarch, lemon juice and sugar.Stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture begins to thicken.Add frozen cherries and cook, stirring occasionally until the sauce is at a light boil (this will take 12-15 minutes). Once the sauce is thickened and bubbling, remove from heat. Cool to room temperature, then cover and store in the refrigerator. It will continue to thicken as it cools.Topping can either be served on individual slices of spread over the entire top of cheesecake, before cutting.
