White Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake

The first macadamia-graham cracker crust I made for the Mallow Cranberry Cheesecake was left in the oven just a few minutes too long, so I decided to make a new one.  I couldn't bring myself to throw it out the first one, though, because it wasn't necessarily burnt.  One person's slightly overcooked graham cracker-macadamia nut crust is another person's opportunity to make another type of cheesecake... And that's why I made this White Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake.

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I poured on a layer of tempered white chocolate.  Cole suggested a long time ago that I make a white chocolate cheesecake crust and this seemed like an appropriate time to test it out.

I enjoyed the "no-bake" part of the Cranberry Cheesecake recipe from Taste of Home, so I modified it to make a Cherry Cheesecake.

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I piped on a little bit of whipped cream as the topping and surrounded it with Amerena Fabbri cherries.  I drizzled some of the cherry syrup on top of the cheesecake for the heck of it.

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The white chocolate crunch was a fun surprise, but when the cheesecake was right out of the fridge it was a bit tough to get all the way through with a fork.  A thinner layer of white chocolate would be better next time.  I have already adjusted the recipe below to use less white chocolate.

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Gotta love a no-bake dessert.  It was a piece of cake!

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And just because I can always find a way to fit her in any post... here is Georgia taking in the sweet smells as we watch Cole photograph the cheesecake.  (And they say bulldogs don't have a good nose.  Pshh...)

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White Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Recipe
 

White chocolate cherry CHEESECAKE

(Adapted from Taste of Home)

 

INGREDIENTS

¾  cup graham cracker crumbs 

½  cup finely chopped macadamia nuts

2 tablespoons sugar

¼  cup butter, melted

1 oz white chocolate, tempered

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

¼  cup cold water

2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow creme

1 jar (8 ounces) wild Italian cherries in syrup (Amarena Fabbri)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

 

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
  2. In a small bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, nuts and sugar. Stir in butter. Press onto the bottom of a greased 9-in. springform pan. Place on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. (You can turn oven off now!)
  3. Pour melted white chocolate onto cooled crust and spread evenly with knife or spatula. Let cool for 1 to 2 hours, or until hardened.
  4. In a small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over cold water; let stand for 1 minute. Heat over low heat, stirring until gelatin is completely dissolved and let cool for a few minutes.
  5. In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese and marshmallow creme until smooth. Add in cherries in syrup and cooled gelatin and mix on low to combine.
  6. In a small bowl, beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Fold into cream cheese mixture. Pour over crust. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

To Assemble: Just before serving, carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen. Spoon additional cherries and syrup over cheesecake.