Gingerbread Cheesecake

It feels like the calm before the storm here. I’m sitting still for one last evening, enjoying the quiet before the entire family arrives to take over my house for the next five days. It promises to be busy, crazy fun. I have tons of delicious recipes planned for while they’re here and the boys and I ventured out today to pick up all the corresponding groceries.

Our first stop was the butcher shop to pick up a leg of lamb for Christmas dinner and our next stop was to Trader Joe’s for everything else. You don’t want to know the final bill.
I told Alex, my four year old, that we spent the arm over at Trader Joe’s and the leg at the meat shop. It’ll be worth it though. Leg of lamb is one of my all time favorites and it’s the Christmas dish my grandmother used to make for us, so it comes with happy memories. We’ll be serving up potato pancakes, asparagus, and rolls on the side. I can almost taste it.

And then there’s dessert. One treat that my family absolutely loves is cheesecake. And this cheesecake has been “gingerbreaded” up to create a perfect finish to your Christmas time meal. I guarantee it will be gone in a flash. I made it for Thanksgiving and was lucky enough to bring a single piece home with me.

Ingredients Needed:

For the Crust:

1 Stick of Butter
1 Cup of Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1/4 Cup of Molasses
1/4 tsp of Salt
1 tsp of Cinnamon
1 tsp of Ginger
1/2 tsp of Cloves
3 Cups of Flour
3/4 tsp of Baking Soda

For the Cheesecake:

4 8 Oz. Cream Cheese Blocks
11/2 Cups of Sugar
3/4 Cup of Milk
1/4 Cup of Molasses
1 tsp of Cinnamon
1 tsp of Ginger
1/2 tsp of Cloves
4 Eggs
1 Cup of Sour Cream
1 Tbsp Vanilla
1/4 Cup of Flour

First up, we’ll make the the crust. Cream together your stick of butter and your brown sugar.

Next up you’ll add in the egg, molasses, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Give it a good mix and then add in your flour and baking soda. Here’s the finished dough:

Grab yourself a 9×9″ pan and press 3/4 of the gingerbread dough down into it. Return the remaining dough to the fridge.

Pop it into the oven set at 350 and bake it up for about 15 minutes. Pull it out and allow it to cool.

While your crust is cooling, let’s get to the good stuff.

Grab your cream cheese and sugar and cream it together until smooth.

Tip 1: Letting your cream cheese reach room temperature before making the cheesecake will help avoid air bubbles in your cheesecake and ensure even mixing.

Add in the milk and mix it up once more.

Now add in your molasses, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Mix it together.

Next up, you’ll add in your eggs one at a time until each is just mixed. Don’t over mix your batter.

Stir in the sour cream, vanilla, and flour.

Set aside your cheesecake mixture for the moment and grab up your cooled cookie. Crumble it up to crumbs and press the crumbs into a greased up springform pan.

Pour the cheesecake batter over your cookie crust.

Place your cheesecake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes and then turn it down to 300 and let it cook for 40 more.

Tip 2: Place a pan filled with water on the oven shelf below your cheesecake. Adding water to the oven will help prevent your cheesecake from cracking.

Tip 3: DON’T open the oven while the cheese cake is cooking or cooling. As tempting as it may be, opening the door will cause a quick change in temperature which can cause your cheesecake to crack.

After the 60 minutes are up, turn off the oven and let your cheesecake sit inside for the next 5-6 hours. And I repeat, step away from the oven door!

Was it worth the suspense? You bet your gingerbread cheesecake it was.

Last but not least, grab the remaining gingerbread dough from your fridge and use it to create and cook up some super cool shapes for the top of your cheesecake. I made this for Thanksgiving so I cut out and designed some leaves. For Christmas you could do anything from gingerbread men to snowmen.

Here it is out of the springform. Pardon the terrible lighting.

This poor slice. It was the very last slice in the pan. I had planned on bringing home leftovers and shooting the final picture at that time, but Scott’s family had other plans and pretty much consumed the entire cake. This is what they left me to share with you.

And you better look quick, cuz this piece was gone as soon as the camera snapped it’s last picture. Mmm, mmm, cheesecake.