Bon Appetit Desserts (54 page)

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and keep chilled.

Cut around pan sides again; remove pan sides. Place cake on platter.

Mix raspberries and blueberries in medium bowl. Cut cake into wedges. Serve berries alongside.

Double-Decker Raspberry and White Chocolate Cheesecake

The raspberry flavor lends a nice summertime feeling to this dessert, but since the recipe calls for frozen raspberries, it can be made year-round. Leftover raspberry puree is delicious in club soda with a squeeze of lime.
12 servings

1 9-ounce package chocolate wafer cookies, coarsely broken

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 12-ounce package frozen raspberries, thawed, juices reserved

6 ounces high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), finely chopped

4 8-ounce packages Philadelphia-brand cream cheese, room temperature

1⅓ cups sugar

2 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour

4 large eggs

2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

White chocolate curls (optional)

Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2¾-inch-high sides. Wrap outside of pan with 3 layers of heavy-duty foil. Place cookies in processor and blend until coarse crumbs form. Add melted butter and process until evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom and halfway up sides of prepared pan. Bake crust 8 minutes; cool in pan on rack. Maintain oven temperature.

Press raspberries with juices through fine strainer into small bowl; discard seeds in strainer. Measure ½ cup puree to use for filling (reserve remaining puree for another use). Stir white chocolate in small metal bowl set over saucepan of barely simmering water until just melted and smooth.

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until smooth and fluffy. Beat in flour, then beat in eggs 1 at a time. Beat in whipping cream and vanilla. Transfer 2¼ cups batter to medium bowl; stir in melted white chocolate. Stir reserved ½ cup raspberry puree and almond extract into remaining batter in large bowl.

Pour raspberry batter into prepared crust. Place cake pan in large roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come 1 inch up sides of cake pan.

Bake cake until raspberry filling is softly set in center and beginning to puff at edges, about 50 minutes. Remove roasting pan from oven; let raspberry layer cool 5 minutes to firm slightly.

Starting at edge of pan, spoon white chocolate batter in concentric circles onto raspberry layer. Smooth top. Bake cake until white chocolate filling is set in center, about 30 minutes. Remove cake pan from water bath and remove foil from pan sides. Chill hot cake uncovered until cold, at least 4 hours.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made 2 days ahead; cover and keep chilled.

Cut around pan sides to loosen cheesecake; remove pan sides. Garnish cheesecake with white chocolate curls, if desired.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Marshmallow-Sour Cream Topping and Gingersnap Crust

Just because it has pumpkin in the filling and marshmallows on the top, don’t relegate this amazing cheesecake to just one month out of the year—friends and family will give thanks any time you make it. The sour cream in the topping provides excellent balance to the sweet marshmallows.
12 servings

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs

1 cup pecans

¼ cup (packed) golden brown sugar

2 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger

¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted

4 8-ounce packages Philadelphia-brand cream cheese, room temperature

2 cups sugar

1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin

5 large eggs

3 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

2 cups mini marshmallows or large marshmallows cut into ½-inch cubes

¼ cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

⅛ teaspoon salt

1 cup sour cream

CRUST
: Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2¾-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Blend cookie crumbs, pecans, brown sugar, and ginger in processor until nuts are finely ground. Add melted butter; using on/off turns, process until crumbs stick together. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and 2 inches up sides of prepared pan. Bake crust until set and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cool completely.

FILLING
: Preheat oven to 350°F. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in pumpkin. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating on low speed to blend after each addition and occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Add flour, spices, and salt; beat just to blend. Beat in vanilla. Transfer filling to cooled crust.

Bake cake until edges begin to crack and filling is just set in center (filling will move only slightly in center when pan is gently shaken), about 1 hour 20 minutes. Cool 1 hour. Cut around pan sides to loosen cake; chill uncovered in cake pan overnight.

TOPPING
: Stir marshmallows and milk in large saucepan over low heat until marshmallows are melted. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and salt. Cool marshmallow mixture to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Fold sour cream into marshmallow mixture. Pour topping over cheesecake and spread evenly, leaving ½ inch plain border around edges. Chill to set topping, at least 1 hour.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.

Cut around pan sides again. Remove pan sides. Cut cheesecake into wedges and serve.

Crème Fraîche Cheesecake with Honey-Rum-Roasted Pineapple

Crème fraîche brings extra tanginess to this tropical-flavored cheesecake, while dark rum gives it a decidedly grown-up kick.
12 servings

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon sugar

3 8-ounce packages Philadelphia-brand cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

2 large eggs

¾ cup crème fraîche or sour cream

1 pineapple, peeled, cut into ½-inch-thick rounds, cored

1 cup water

¼ cup honey

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons dark rum

CRUST
: Preheat oven to 350°F. Blend all ingredients in bowl until crumbs stick together. Press crumb mixture onto bottom (not sides) of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2¾-inch sides. Bake crust until golden, about 12 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool. Wrap outside of pan with 3 layers of heavy-duty foil. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

FILLING
: Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean (reserve bean for another use) and blend 1 minute. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in crème fraîche. Pour filling over crust. Place pan in roasting pan. Add enough hot water to roasting pan to come 1 inch up sides of cake pan.

Bake cake until top is dry-looking and slightly puffed, about 1 hour. Turn off oven. Let cake cool in closed oven 1 hour. Remove from water bath; remove foil. Chill uncovered until cold, at least 6 hours.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep chilled.

TOPPING
: Preheat oven to 400°F. Place pineapple rings on large foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bring 1 cup water, honey, sugar, and rum to boil in small saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spoon syrup over pineapple. Roast pineapple 12 minutes. Turn rings over; roast until tender and syrup thickens, turning rings every 5 minutes, about 20 minutes longer. Cool pineapple on sheet. Cut into ⅓-inch cubes; transfer pineapple and syrup to bowl.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill.

Drain pineapple, reserving syrup. Cover top of cheesecake with some pineapple; stir remainder back into syrup. Serve cake, passing pineapple in syrup separately.

Mascarpone Cheesecake with Balsamic Strawberries