Blueberry Cheesecake with Gingerbread Crust #SixteenCheesecakes

I love cheesecakes, but I don’t make them often.  I just don’t often have enough people over to eat a whole cheesecake.  Added to that, I’m at stay at home mom, and Hubs is home every day for lunch (so no sending it to work for coworkers), and there are just not many cheesecake opportunities.

Lucky for me, I was at a garage sale over the summer and snagged a set of mini springform pans.  And yet I still didn’t put them to use until this event.  Well, actually for Hubs’ birthday.  I’ve had a lot of cake orders and birthdays lately and we’re all a little caked out.

So it was a perfect opportunity to break in that mini cheesecake pan and try out a new recipe!

Speaking of new recipe, about that gingerbread crust – I had waaaaay too many gingerbread cookies left after Christmas and they got all dried out and hard (but still tasty).  So I ground them up in the food processor, sifted out the big chunks of royal icing and tossed them in the freezer.  I didn’t know when or why, but I knew those gingerbread crumbs were destined to become cheesecake.

The spiciness of the gingerbread is the perfect complement to the fruity blueberry cheesecake (which boasts a pinch of cinnamon & a splash of whisky itself).  It’s smooth and creamy and spicy and perfect and officially my new favorite cheesecake.  I’m actually glad it was a mini cheesecake, because I totally would eaten a full sized version of this!

Recipe Note:

*This fits one 4 ½-inch springform pan.  For a full sized (9-inch) springform pan, triple the recipe, increase cooking temperature to 350 and extend baking time by 15 minutes, if needed.

Blueberry Cheesecake with Gingerbread Crust

Inspired by Fine Cooking

Crust

½ cup crushed gingerbread cookies

1 ½ tbsp butter, melted

1 ½ tbsp. packed brown sugar

Blueberry Sauce

1 1/3 cups fresh or frozen (slightly thawed) blueberries

3 tbsp sugar

½ tsp lemon juice

Pinch of cinnamon

1 tbsp whiskey or bourbon

1 scant tsp corn starch

Cheesecake filling

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg, room temperature

2 tbsp sour cream, room temperature

¼ cup strained blueberry sauce (directions below)

¼ tsp vanilla extract

Place the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon in a small saucepan.  Shake to coat.  Set aside for 5 minutes or until the blueberries release their juices.

Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and cook until the juices bubble and the berries soften.  Whisk the cornstarch into the whiskey. Slowly whisk in to the bubbling berry mixture.  Cook until thickened, about 1 minute.  Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Remove ½ cup of the berry mixture and puree in a blender.  Strain through a fine mesh strainer, discarding solids.  Set aside. 

Place the remaining berry mixture in a sealed container and refrigerate.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter the inside of a mini spring form pan (about 4 ½-inch diameter).  Wrap the bottom of the pan in aluminum foil.

Stir together the cookie crumbs, butter, and brown sugar and press into the bottom of the pan, coming up slightly on the sides.  Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and set aside.

Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees F

Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Beat on medium until completely smooth.  Turn to low and add in the egg, mixing until combined.  Follow with the sour cream, strained blueberry sauce, and vanilla, mixing until just combined.

Pour the filling into the baked crust.

Place a deep panful of water on a lower rack in the oven (this will keep the oven moist and should prevent the cheesecake from drying out & cracking).  Place the cheesecake on the middle rack and bake for 45-60 minutes or until the top of the cheesecake is lightly browned, but the center is still jiggly. 

Turn off the oven and crack the door.  Leave the cheesecake in the oven to cool for 1 hour.  Then refrigerate overnight.  Serve with reserved blueberry sauce.

Makes 1 mini cheesecake, serving 2-4

Today’s delicious cheesecake is in celebration on Camilla’s 16^th wedding anniversary!  Here’s more about the event:

Last year Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla rallied some blogging friends to help her celebrate her 15th wedding anniversary. She was only looking for fifteen cheesecake recipes. But we posted waaaaaay more than #FifteenCheesecakes.

It was such a hit and we all had so much fun that she decided to see if she could get enthusiasm for another round of cheesecakes. Yep. This is an encore performance by some of her favorite foodie bloggers.

More than #SixteenCheesecakes

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