Instructions
CRANBERRY SAUCE
- Start by making the cranberry sauce to give it a chance to cool down. Place the cranberries, the sugar, the orange juice, and the zest in a small saucepan. Cook the cranberries over medium heat, stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes, until they have fallen apart and you’ve obtained a thick sauce.
- Strain the sauce using a fine mesh sieve. You can opt to use the sauce with the cranberry skins if you want, but I prefer without the skins. Make sure to press down on the cranberries to strain all the sauce out. Place the sauce in the fridge for 1 hour to cool down.
CRUST
- Pre-heat the oven to 325ºF. Make the crust by mixing the graham cracker (or digestive biscuit) crumbs, the sugar, and the melted butter. Press the crumble down on the bottom of a 9 or 8†springform pan.
- Bake the crust in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes. You don’t necessarily have to bake the crust, but baking will help make the crust less crumbly once you serve the cheesecake. If you don’t bake the crust, simply insert the pan in the freezer while you make the cheesecake. If you baked the crust, remove it from the oven and let it cool down.
CHEESECAKE
- Place 2 tbsp of cold water in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin on top and mix. Let the gelatin sit for 5 minutes to hydrate. Pour 2 tbsp of hot water on top of the gelatin, and mix to dissolve the gelatin. It should have dissolved completely. Set it aside.
- Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer for 3 minutes, until fluffy and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure all the cream cheese is getting whipped properly.
- Add the Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk, the lemon juice, and the dissolved gelatin to the bowl. If the gelatin has hardened, insert it in the microwave just for 5 seconds to melt it again. Mix all the ingredients together until completely incorporated.
TO ASSEMBLE
- Pour half of the cheesecake batter on the bottom of the pan with the cooled down crust. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the cranberry sauce over the cheesecake batter. Use a knife to swirl the sauce around.
- Pour the remaining cheesecake batter on top. Spoon another 1/2 cup of cranberry sauce over the cheesecake and swirl with a knife. Give the pan a gentle tap against the counter to smooth out the batter and to release any air bubbles as well.
- Place the cheesecake in the fridge for 6 hours. After 6 hours, remove the cheesecake from the fridge, run a knife around the edges of the pan, and open the springform pan.
WHIPPED CREAM
- Whip the cream with the mixer over medium high speed. Add the powdered sugar and continue to whip for a total of 2 minutes until it achieves stiff peaks.
- Place the whipped cream in a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe the whipped cream on top of the cheesecake and top with sugared cranberries if desired. I also decorated mine with rosemary sprigs.
Recipe by our friend Camila @Piesandtacos
