The Lady was wandering around Costco a few days ago and saw the two pound 100th Anniversary wheels of the special three year Tillamook Vintage White Cheddar, which is a favorite around the manse. It’s one of our “everyday” cheeses. She couldn’t resist and bought a couple of wheels. She had been on another cheese mission, but hit the “Abort” Button when those yummy wheels caught her eye…
She came home and announced she was going to make a cheesecake using our favorite cheddar… and she did.
The taste is quite savory and The Man, as is to be expected, swooned when he had his first bite. I was a bit more reserved but this Feline Foodie was thrilled… this is damn fine cheesecake…if I do say so myself. Of course, it might have just been cheesecake if it weren’t for Tillamook.
Topping follows recipe.
Ingredients:
1 Pound Tillamook Three-Year Vintage White Cheddar (the two-year will also work well) – Room Temperature and Shredded
2 Pounds Cream Cheese – Room Temperature
1 ½ Cups Sugar
4 Eggs – Room Temperature
2 Teaspoons Real Vanilla
1 Small carton Fresh Blueberries
Crust:
Whole Box Graham Crackers (she used the one with 3 sleeves)
1 Cup Pecans
½ Cup Sugar
¼ Pound Tillamook Unsalted Butter – melted
Preparations:
Wrap bottom of 9-inch springform pan with aluminum foil to avoid leakage from water bath.
Heat oven to 350°
Crush crackers and pecans in food processor until pulverized.
Combine cracker/pecan mixture with sugar and melted butter.
Press into bottom of springform pan.
Bake in oven for 12 minutes.
Remove and let cool to room temperature.
Blend cream cheese, cheddar, sugar and vanilla in a food processor. (You can use a stand mixer with paddle but processor will give you a much creamier end product.)
Add eggs one at a time and continue to blend until smooth and creamy.
Fold in blueberries.
Put mixture in springform pan and place pan inside a large roasting pan.
Fill roasting pan with warm water about half way up the sides of the springform.
Place on middle shelf of oven and bake for 1 ½ hours or until internal temperature reaches 165°.
You may need to cover the cake with foil at some point to avoid over-browning the top. This is a dense cake and cooking in the water bath takes longer. The Lady started checking the temperature after 1 hour and actually had to bake this cake almost 2 hours before the temperature was at 165.
Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.
Chill overnight in the fridge.
Topping:
The Lady made a sauce for the top using 1 small carton of blueberries, ½ cup of sugar and a small airplane size bottle of Grand Marnier. She put the three ingredients in a pan and heated just until it started to thicken.
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