Cranberry Red Currant Cheesecake

Cranberry Red Currant Sauce

1. In a medium saucepan, add in the sugar and cornstarch. Stir to combine. 
2. Add in the fresh cranberries, red currant fruit spread, and water. Place over medium heat and stir. Let cook about 9 – 10 minutes until the cranberries pop open.
3. Using a food processor or blender, blend the hot mixture for about 1 minute. (You can skip this step, but I prefer to do it so everything is smooth)
4. Using a sieve, strain out any remaining skins or seeds from the sauce. Set aside and start working on the crust and cheesecake. Discard skins and seeds.

Crust

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray the sides of the 9-inch springform pan with nonstick baking spray. Wrap the sides of the pan with a strip of parchment paper.
2. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar until it resembles wet sand and can be packed down.
3. Press the crust evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
4. Place in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool while you work on the cheesecake filling.

Cheesecake

1. In a large bowl, add in the cream cheese. Beat with a hand mixer on medium until the cream cheese is smooth. Scrape down the bowl.
2. Add in the sugar and beat on medium again until incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
3. Add in the eggs one at a time until they are all incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
4. Add in the sour cream, heavy cream, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium until the mixture comes together. It will be runny.
5. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan on top of the crust. The crust doesn’t have to be cooled completely.
6. Drizzle about half of the cranberry red currant sauce on top of cheesecake batter. Using a toothpick or skewer, swirl it around.
7. Pour the remaining cheesecake batter into the pan. I did reserve about 3 tablespoons of the cheesecake batter to go on top of the final pouring of the cranberry sauce.
8. Drizzle the cranberry red currant sauce evenly on the cheesecake. Drizzle the reserved 3 tablespoons of cheesecake batter on top of the sauce to help break it up. Using a toothpick or skewer, swirl the sauce into the cheesecake.
9. Wrap the bottom of the springform pan with 2 layers of heavy-duty tin foil. Place the cheesecake in a slightly bigger pan and fill with 1 inch of water.
10. Place in the oven with a tented piece of tin foil over the top of the cheesecake to prevent browning on the top. Let the cheesecake bake for 1 hour 20 minutes – 1 hour 30 minutes or until done. To make sure the cheesecake is done, gently give it a wiggle. If it slightly jiggles in JUST the middle like jello, then it’s done. If it jiggles all over, it needs to bake longer. Turn off the heat and crack the oven door slightly. Let it cool in the oven for 1 to 2 hours until it reaches room temperature and then place in the fridge to chill overnight.
11. Add whipped cream into a piping bag fitted with a 1M tip. Pipe swirls on top of the cooled cheesecake.