Recipes – Page 9 – ItsFoodtastic

Every Christmas I look forward to having our traditional Puerto Rican-style eggnog called Coquito. Since I didn’t want to make plain cheesecake, that’s when it hit me. Coquito Cheesecake! It popped into my heart because I know he’d love it. It would be sweet, creamy but have that coconut richness and that hint of rum. Sublime. High Five if you Agree! PREP TIME 30 mins COOK TIME 60 mins TOTAL TIME 1 hour 30 mins Recipe type: Dessert Cuisine: American Serves: 4 INGREDIENTS Crust 1 cup graham crackers ½ cup finely ground almonds ½ teaspoon vanilla 4 tablespoons butter, melted 4 tablespoons, brown sugar Cheesecake 2 8oz packages of cream cheese (room temperature!) 1 8 oz package of marscapone cheese 1 cup sugar 1½ cup Coquito 3 eggs 2 tablespoons rum ½ teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon vanilla Pinch of salt INSTRUCTIONS Crust In a bowl, mix all ingredients until well incorporated. Press crust mixture into a 9-inch spring form pan, until the bottom is completely covered. Cook in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until slightly golden. Remove from oven and cool completely. Wrap and seal the bottom of the pan completely with aluminum foil. This will prevent water from getting into the cheesecake as it bakes in a bain-marie (water bath). Cheesecake Preheat oven to 425 degrees Farenheit. In a saucepan, bring 6 cups of water to a simmer. Leave at this temperature until ready to use. Using a hand or stand mixer with whisk attachment, mix the cream cheese, marscapone, sugar, flour, and coquito. Blend until smooth. Then add the eggs, rum, and cinnamon and salt. Pour into crust. Place baking pan, in baking sheet, pour water, and bake for 10 minutes. Lower temperature to 250 degrees Fahrenheit, and bake for another 45 minutes. Turn off oven and allow cake to cool in the oven gradually. Remove from oven and run a fork around the edges of the cake. Wait 20 minutes and release spring. Let the cheesecake cool completely. Refrigerate 4-6 hours allowing cheesecake to fully set. Optimally you can leave it in the refrigerator overnight. So, about cheesecake. Not so straight forward. I think I’m attracted to complicated recipes because I love to discover all the gotchas for you guys and make them fool-proof. There are several steps you must take to make sure the cheesecake comes out perfect, meaning: no cracks, no lumps, not overly mixed and definitely not dry. Once you follow these steps your cheesecake will be perfection. Voila! Perfect Cheesecake Tip #1 For starters, make sure that ALL of the ingredients are at room temperature. Did you get that? MAKE SURE ALL OF THE INGREDIENTS ARE AT ROOM TEMPERATURE. Why is this soooo important? Because the cream cheese will not want to blend smoothly and you’ll end up with small colder-than-room-temperature lumps. No Bueno. This makes for a lumpy cheesecake. Now who ever heard of a lumpy cheesecake? lol Cheesecake is supposed to be smooth and creamy. That’s what we’re going for here people so heed the warning. My first cheesecake ever came out lumpy, delicious, but lumpy nevertheless. My second cheesecake, though I had sat the ingredients out for more than an hour, still was not at room temperature. So however long it takes in your neck of the woods make sure this step is followed. Perfect Cheesecake Tip #2 Once the cheesecake is almost done and the center is still a little jiggly, turn off the oven and let it sit in there until the oven has cooled off. Once you’ve removed it from the oven, run a knife around the edge to loosen it from the wall of cake pan. This is so that as the cheesecake begins to cool it doesn’t crack. Very important. Perfect Cheesecake Tip #3 Make sure once the cheesecake has cooled down completely, you let it chill for 4-6 hours. I prefer to refrigerate it overnight for the best results. The cheesecake needs time to set. Resist the urge to scarf this down. It is that creamy and decadent and you should relish each bite. You just may want to eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, jus sayin’. I actually added a little shredded coconut to the cream cheese to give it some texture but this is optional of course.