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No one, and I mean no one, loves cheesecake more than my dad. I have no idea why because the man doesnโt even like cheese. WHA!! Yes, I know. He doesnโt like cheese. Itโs the oddest thing in the entire world, but his favorite dessert of them all—and he loves mostly everything sweet—is cheesecake.
Heโs extremely critical about cheesecake because he eats a lot of it. As I was recipe testing this here cheesecake, Iโd send him photos throughout the process and heโd remark skeptically, giving his harsh criticisms and recommendations. Mostly I think itโs just funny that he takes cheesecake so seriously.
Iโm not sure how this will live up to my dadโs cheesecake expectations, but I loved it. Itโs perfectly tart; the texture is smooth; and the chocolate crust gives it a nice decadent element. The marble topping is kinda pretty, quickly making it the favorite at a holiday dessert tableโฆor, to you know, eat by yourself by the Christmas tree. And while marbling anything may seem a bit difficult, itโs actually pretty easy.
The one thing I hate about making cheesecake is a using a damn springform pan. Theyโre insanely frustrating, flawed in how their made. Most of them leak, which means, water comes in when you bake it in a water bath. The solution to this for many, is baking a cheesecake in a cake pan. With this though, because of the pretty top, I needed to use a spring form pan (I had one anyway). The solution was to wrap the entire bottom in a few sheets of foil. No water seeping through!
One thing I learned about marbling is this: if you want tighter swirls, use a smaller skewer to swirl the cranberry sauce around. If you want bigger swirls (I did), use a larger skewer and get messy with it. I promise itโll look pretty regardless.
And thatโs really it!
My dad is making this recipe this weekend. Hopefully heโll leave a comment with the results.
More Dessert Recipes
Marbled Cranberry Cheesecake
Ingredients
- *1 1/4 cups, about 16 cookies chocolate cookie crumbs
- 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 24 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 5 ounces goat cheese, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon orange zest, from about 1/2 naval orange
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, mix together the cookie crumbs, sugar, salt and melted butter. Dump the crust mixture into a nine-inch (10-cup) springform pan and press evenly onto the bottom of the pan until packed tightly. Transfer to the oven to bake for 8 minutes (unfortunately since the crumbs are so dark you canโt really tell when theyโve toasted so itโs important to pay attention to the clock). Remove from the oven and cool completely before adding the filling. Wrap the bottom of the spring form pan in a few sheets of foil and set aside.
- To the bowl of a stand-up mixer, using a paddle attachment, add the cream cheese and goat cheese. Whip until smooth and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Next, mix in the sugar. With the machine one, add the eggs, one at a time, waiting until each egg is incorporated before adding the next one. Lastly, mix in the salt and vanilla extract.
- In a small saucepan, add the cranberries, white granulated sugar, water, orange zest and salt. Cook over medium heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the cranberries become soft. Press the cranberries with a back of a spoon or spatula and cook for an additional minute until theyโre softened. Pour the mixture through a medium-mesh sieve, pressing the cranberries to release any excess juice. The mixture should resemble a loose jamโitโll thicken as it cools. Transfer to a squeeze bottle. (If you donโt have a squeeze bottle, then no biggie, just transfer it to a measuring cup with a spoutโitโll be easier to pour.)
- Pour the cream cheese mixture into the springform pan and smooth out the top with a spatula. Make sure it reaches the edge of the pan. Make little dollops of cranberry sauce all over the surface of the cream cheese. Take a skewer or popsicle stick and run it through the dollops creating a marbling effect. Make it as messy or neat as you like. Place the springform pan in a roasting pan, or another pan thatโs as big. Transfer to the rack of the oven and fill up the roasting pan with about 2 inches of water. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until it looks set, yet itโs still a bit wobbly in the center. Place on a cooling rack for 30 minutes and then place it in the fridge to set for at least 3 hours. (I let it set overnight.) Slice it up and serve.
Can you use frozen cranberries that have thawed, or do they need to be fresh?
You could use frozen, I would just thaw them first and then drain them.
I tried making the cranberry sauce mixture, and when I tasted it and it was extremely sour and tasteless. I do believe there was a mistake in the amount of sugar to put in it. It calls for a quarter of a tablespoon didn’t sound right from the start. Everything else about this recipe is delightful, can’t wait to take a bite.
AHH! It was supposed to read 1/4 cup of sugar. Apologies for that. Having said that, it shouldn’t make too big of a difference it terms of flavor at the end since it’s just the swirl part. Please let me know how it tastes! Apologies a million times over.
This sounds like a combo of such awesome tartness w/ the goat cheese and cranberries! Plus, it’s damn pretty.
I adore goat cheese and have made a goat cheese cheesecake before but I must revisit it. Sounds great with cranberry.
What a gorgeous cake.. looks absolutely tempting and perfect.. thanks for the wonderful recipe! ๐