Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake

It ain’t pretty but it sure does taste good!

I have never tried to make a real cheesecake before. I have been intimidated and rightfully so… I fought the cheesecake and the cheesecake won! LOL! Gotta love cold medication, everything is uber funny when I am on it 🙂

Anyhoo… I found this recipe in the Taste of Home Fall Baking Cookbook.

Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake

Crust:

1 1/3 cups Chocolate Wafer Crumbs (I used Pamela’s Simplebites Extreme Chocolate Mini Cookies)

1/4 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Butter (I used Smart Balance)

Filling:

2 packages (8-ounces each) Cream Cheese, softened (I used Kroger brand Neufchatel)

1/2 cup Sugar

3/4 cup Sour Cream (I used Kroger brand Lowfat Sour Cream)

1 Tbs. Cornstarch

2 Eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce (I used homemade)

• In a small bowl, combine wafer crumbs, sugar and butter. Press onto the bottom and 1-inch up the sides of a greased 9-inch springform pan; set aside.

• In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add sour cream and cornstarch; beat well. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Fold in cranberry sauce (This is where I think I goofed…I beat in the cranberry sauce instead of folding it in). Pour into crust. Place pan on a baking sheet.

• Bake at 325° F. for 30 – 35 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight.

My cheesecake is much more pink than the cheesecake in the cookbook, LOL! It also did not set as well, but it tasted great!

I wonder if using a water bath would have been helpful? I also live at high altitude, 5,282 feet above sea level, so I might need to adjust for that but I am not sure. If anyone has any cheesecake advice, I would love to learn 😉