an even better cheesecake [guavaberry/lingonberry]
The full dr bob illustrated humorous recipe is only available via hardcopy (detailing
the Sint Maarten/IKEA anecdotal history of its origins) or on the
dr
bob CD, but since this cheesecake is so good (our best), we present the no frills net
version. No cute story, no cute illustrations.
ingredients
- crust
- 6 T butter (3/4 stick US, 90g Euro)
- 2 c finely graham cracker crumbs
[better: 1 1/2 c g.c.c. plus 1/2 c ground hazelnuts]
- [if unavailable: 1 1/2 c finely ground vanilla wafer cookie crumbs plus 1/2 c ground
toasted hazelnuts]
- 1/4 c sugar (60g)
- filling
- 2 lbs cream cheese (4 8oz packages US, 900g Philadelphia Euro)
- 1 1/2 c sugar (350g)
- 2 T guavaberry liqueur
- pinch of salt
- 4 large eggs
- 7oz Swedish lingonberry preserves (200g, half an IKEA jar)
- topping
- 2 c sour cream
- 1/4 c sugar (60g)
- 1 t guavaberry liqueur
- 2 T ground toasted hazelnuts (optional)
- units
- 1 t = 1 teaspoon
- 1 T = 1 tablespoon
- 1 c = 1 cup (holds 1/4 liter water, roughly)
instructions
- CRUST
- Melt the butter, mix with the crumbs and sugar, and press into bottom and side of 10 in
ungreased springform pan.
- BATTER UP!
- Beat the cream cheese and sugar together with electric beaters until smooth, then
incorporate (not a business term) the salt and liqueur, and finally add the eggs one at a
time at low speed. Pour into the crust. Then with a teaspoon, dob little globs of the
lingonberry preserves around the top of the batter and swirl around with a butter knife
until a nice marbled pattern (which will never be seen) is achieved.
- BAKE OFF
- Place in preheated 350° oven for about 50 minutes. Remove for 10 minutes, while you mix
up sour cream, sugar, and liqueur for the topping. Then spread topping over top (duh...),
sprinkle with hazelnut crumbs and reinsert in oven 10 minutes. Remove and cool. Then
refrigerate.
- WAIT
- At least a day. The flavor matures.
notes
- The original Sint Maarten guavaberry island folk
liqueur
- A guavaberry reddish rum concoction
having nothing to do with guava fruit.
- Available at Sint Maarten Guavaberry Company, 8-10 Frontstreet, Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, N.A
[Netherlands Antilles = Dutch West Indies, Caribbean], free samples for vacationing
tourists.
- Imported to the USA by Universal Liquor Imports, Coral Gables, FL 33134.
- Now occasionally
but not reliably available in the USA.
- Great also for
guavaberry coladas: 2oz guavaberry, 1oz coconut cream, 3oz pineapple
juice, 1 glass of ice cubes, blended until creamy in blender. Garnish with pineapple and
freshly ground nutmeg. [We returned to the Guavaberry Company store in 2001
and 2007 and the free
samples of this were still as terrific as we remembered.]
- Let's face it: who is going to go out of their way to track this down? It is just some
red berries soaked in rum, used in a small enough quantity that it basically provides a
nice pink color to the batter. Substitute by pureeing about 1 T lingonberry preserves in 2
T rum and reserving a teaspoon for the topping before incorporating into the batter.
- Swedish lingonberry preserves
- Available at IKEA USA.
- Mother Wonderful
- If you really can't get the liqueur or the preserves, replace the liqueur by Frangelico
(hazelnut) liqueur, do the alternate hazelnut crust and dump another half cup of toasted
hazelnut crumbs into the batter to get Mother Wonderful's
hazelnut cheesecake, also pretty
darn good. dr bob met her [Myra Chanin] at a King of Prussia mall book signing years ago
(say 1992)
and bought a second copy of her book for the autograph. She's a nice lady and a Philly
local. Buy her book [Mother Wonderful's Cheesecakes and Other Goodies]
if you can.
[Update 2008. bob reconnects with Myra after a google search harvests
her website and an email address,
which he promptly uses to thank her for years of enjoyment from her hazelnut
cheesecake recipe and its consequences, and she kindly replies within
minutes. Isn't the internet terrific?]
- Illustrations
- Slightly out of focus photos of cake in various
stages are available, including the millenium four-pack edition.
Unfortunately the point and shoot APS zoom, though great for vacations, is somewhat
disappointing in the kitchen. However, the dr bob digital photography age
soon followed, improving the quality and quantity of food photos. Here is a
naked baked version before the topping.
Here is the usual image web page:
Illustrations available.