Mike's birthday is tomorrow, and so today I made his very favorite dessert. Cherry Cheesecake.
Well, I changed it a little bit this time around and added some jalapeño jelly to the mix. Here's the recipe below, and I've made a video tutorial that you can view here.
The Recipe
Crust:
1 package graham crackers
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter
I just used 1 package of graham crackers and 1/4 cup of butter in the video because I was thinking about the video and not my crust.
Preheat oven to 350º
Grind up crackers in food processor, or place into plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Blend dry ingredients, melt butter, pour butter into dry ingredients, and mix thoroughly. Press into 9" spring form pan along the bottom and up the sides.
Bake at 350º for 8 minutes, and then set aside.
Filling:
4 packages of cream cheese (8oz each) softened to room temp
4 eggs
1 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 cup-ish Jalapeño Jelly (leave it out for just a plain cherry cheesecake)
1 can of pie cherries for topping
Lower oven temperature to 325º
Cream together sugar and cream cheese. Add vanilla, and then add each egg one at a time, blending for about 15 seconds between each egg. Pour jalapeño jelly into the cheesecake batter and mix in with a rubber spatula. Pour mixture into partially baked graham cracker crust, and cook at 325º for 60-75 minutes. Cheesecake will be set when it is no longer liquid, sloshing around, and just jiggles lightly in a small circle in the center.
Allow to cool to room temperature. Then top with cherries and chill for 4 hours or overnight.
Enjoy! If you have any ideas or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you!