Valentine’s Day is a great excuse to treat yourself to some delectable desserts. But on second thought, why wait for Valentine’s Day?
This recipe from Chevy Chase resident Pati Jinich, the James Beard Award-winning and Emmy Award-nominated host of “Pati’s Mexican Table,” will have you feeling the love any old time!
Blackberry Cheesecake
Ingredients
For Crust:
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1 1/2 cups crumbled graham crackers
- 1/2 teaspoon ground true cinnamon, or canela
For Filling:
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese (or 12 ounces)
- 1 1/2 cups sour cream (or 12 ounces)
- 1 1/2 cups cream cheese (or 12 ounces)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- Pinch of kosher or coarse sea salt
For Blackberry Topping:
- 4 cups ripe blackberries
- Juice of a lime (about 3 tablespoons)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 envelope of unflavored gelatin (about 1 Tablespoon)
Instructions
To prepare the crust:
- In a bowl, combine the melted butter with the graham cracker crumbs and cinnamon.
- Scrape onto a ring mold pan. Press around with your hands or the back of a tablespoon to make the bottom crust as even as you can, and push on the sides, to give the crust a short gentle border of about 1/2-inch in height. Cover and place in the refrigerator to chill while you make the filling.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and set the rack in the middle.
To prepare the filling:
- In the jar of a blender, add the eggs, cottage cheese and sour cream. Process until smooth, Incorporate the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, cornstarch and salt, and puree again until fully incorporated.
- Remove the crust from the refrigerator, pour the mix from the blender on top, jiggle a few times for it to spread evenly. Place in the oven and bake anywhere from 55 minutes to an hour until set. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out just moist, but not with any of the filling covering it.
- Remove from the oven. The cheesecake will be very puffed up. As you take it out of the oven it will settle and deflate a little, and cracks may appear on its surface, which is totally normal. Set aside and let cool.
To prepare the topping:
- In a medium saucepan, combine the blackberries, lime juice and sugar and set over high heat. Once it comes to a full boil, stir and let it continue to cook for 2 to 3 minutes while mashing with a potato masher or mallet.
- Remove from the heat, add the contents from one envelope of unflavored gelatin. Stir well until fully dissolved and let cool until lukewarm or at room temperature.
To assemble the pie:
- Pour the cooled blackberry mixture onto the cooled cheesecake. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours so that the cheesecake chills and the blackberry topping sets.
- Remove cheesecake from the refrigerator. Have a cup with lukewarm water and wet a normal dinner or butter knife. Run it around the edge of the mold all the way around and going down to the bottom. Release the mold and serve. Leftovers can be stored covered in the refrigerator.
Notes
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