I’ve mentioned to you several times, how much my husband loves, sweets,  it can be in any form, milk, cake, Turkish or even American.  Since, it was his birthday last week, I’ve decided instead of buying him a cake I’ll make him another cheesecake.  A tad different from last years. I must admit, I  becoming a cheesecake queen, well at least to my husband. 

I had booked mark this recipe from Gourmet Magazines Aug 2008 issue, which was way before I had baked one of Doris Greenspan’s delicious cheesecakes.  Our favorite thing about this cheesecake was its crust, which totally blew us away.  The cheesecake layer was a bit thin, but never the less it was awesome.  Next time, I hope to use the 9×9 baking pan, instead of 9 inch sheet pan.

The crust really was different, maybe it was all those, chopped finely blanched almonds or that stick of butter or that light brown sugar creamed.  What ever it was, it tasted really really good.

Instead of following instructions, I make them up – well because I can and also I wanted to see how different it will look.  Instead of a square 9×9 baking pan, I used a 9×13 baking sheet pan. Which worked great, but the cream cheese batter coated the crust with a thin layer and allowed the cake to bake quickly.

The minted blackberries, where a nice cooling and freshening touch on top of the cheesecake.  Next time, I might just add them as garment next to the cheesecake, instead of on top.

Dice the mint, add the sugar and lemon juice, mix and marinate at room temperature. 

I baked the cheesecake at night, cooled it for an hour at room temperature then cover with plastic and placed in refrigerator overnight and whole day, till I got home from work to assemble the topping.

Arrange the minted blackberries over the cheesecake and serve.

CHEESECAKE WITH MINTED BLACKBERRIES
               adapated from Gourmet Magazine

For crust:

• 3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup blanched almonds, finely chopped

For filling:

• 3 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup half-and-half
• 3 large eggs

Preparation:

Make filling and bake:

• Reduce oven temperature to 325ºF.
• Beat together cream cheese, sugar, and flour with cleaned beaters at medium speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add half-and-half, then eggs 1 at a time, mixing until incorporated. Pour filling into crust.
• Bake in a hot water bath until set 1 1/2 inches from edge but center is still wobbly, 40 to 45 minutes. (Center will set as it cools.) Transfer pan to a rack and cool completely, about 2 hours. Chill, uncovered, at least 2 hours. (I left it for over night and placed it in the fridge the following morning to cool for another 8 hours before serving.)
• Using foil overhang, lift cheesecake from pan and peel off foil before cutting into small rectangles.

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Tags: Cheesecake, Gourmet Magazine, Minted Blackberries, PLAIN CHEESECAKE