Berry Swirl Cheesecake

Berry Swirl Cheesecake

So, you bought 24 oz. of cream cheese, used two bricks in Peanut Crumpet's birthday cake and are now left with one brick. What to do with that one brick? Make more cheesecake!

This recipe is simple and versatile; swirl in just about anything! I used blueberries this time, but you can set aside a bit of batter and add some pumpkin or peanut butter or chocolate etc. Experiment with the flavours and let us know your suggestions!

1 brick of cream cheese was enough to make a small flat of cheesecake. Enough for 6 people to have a hearty piece. Doubling or tripling the recipe will work fine, special instructions are given in the recipe.

Berry Swirl Cheesecake 

Yield: 1 loaf sized cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup berries
• 2 tbsp sugar or honey
• ½ tbsp. orange juice or water (omit if using frozen berries)
• Orange zest 
• ¾ cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 ½ tbsp. butter or oil (I used coconut oil)
• 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla

 Directions:

1. To make the berry sauce,  cook berries, sugar, orange juice and zest in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. 
2. Lower the heat and continue to cook until reduced.
3. Once cooled, puree in a food processor until smooth. Set aside.
4. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease a loaf pan, especially well in the corners.
5. Blitz your graham crackers in a food processor to make crumbs. Add the melted butter or oil to the crumbs and mix until a wet sand texture is achieved. 
6. Press crumb mixture firmly into the bottom of the pan, I recommend using a spatula.
7. Bake crust in the oven for 4 minutes.
8. Beat the cream cheese and sugar together until light and fluffy.
9. Add egg and beat well. Then add lemon juice and vanilla and beat well.
10. Pour cheesecake batter over the crust and smooth the top.
11. Put dollops of the berry sauce over the top of the batter and gently swirl with a knife to create a marble pattern. Be careful not to hit the crust! (If you are doubling the recipe, alternate between batter and swirling to evenly distribute the filling in a thicker cake.)
12. To prevent cracking, put loaf pan in a larger pan with about 1 inch of boiling water.
13. Bake the entire cake for 35 minutes or until the edges are golden and the center is puffed. For larger cakes, lower the heat to 325˚F after 30 minutes and bake for another 30 minutes.
14. After the baking time, turn off the oven and leave the cake inside for 15 minutes. Do not open the oven door!
15. After 15 minutes, cool on the counter until room temperature. Then refrigerate for a few hours before serving. You may choose to serve with extra berry sauce.

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡