Cynthia's Cranberry Cheesecake

I chanced upon these beautiful cranberries in the local supermarket while I was out shopping (yet again!). I decided to try this beautiful version of Cranberry Cheesecake. 

This recipe is relatively simple and I'd rate it a difficulty level 4 out of 5 (only difficulty is getting the layers right) and it takes about 2 hours 30 minutes to complete. 

Cynthia's Cranberry Cheesecake Recipe

This recipe yields a 9" round cake

270g digestive biscuit

112g unsalted butter, melted

PLAIN PORTION

250g cream cheese, room temperature

75g castor sugar

100g water

2 tbsp gelatin

250g plain yoghurt

STRAWBERRY PORTION

250g cream cheese, room temperature

75g castor sugar

100g water

2 tbsp gelatin

250g strawberry yoghurt

pink wilton gel food colouring

CRANBERRY COMPOTE

400g fresh cranberries (not sure if frozen ones are as good)

2 tbsp water

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

3 tbsp castor sugar

Method

Crush the digestive biscuits till it is fine and sandy.

Add the melted butter. Mix well.

Pour into baking tin/tin with removable base/cake ring and compact with the back of a spoon/ladle/flat cup.

Once compact, pop it into the freezer for 30 minutes while the cream cheese mixture is being prepared. 

PLAIN PORTION

To the water, add the gelatin and stir well to combine. Pop it into the microwave oven and warm it up on medium heat for 2 minutes. Alternatively, you may double boil it till the gelatin is all dissolved. 

To the sugar, add the softened room temperature cream cheese. 

Mix well on low speed till creamy.

Stir the gelatin mixture and allow it to cool completely. 

Pour gelatin mixture into cream cheese and mix on slow speed till well combined. 

Add in the plain yoghurt. Mix on low speed till well combined.

REPEAT STEPS FOR STRAWBERRY PORTION while adding some pink food colouring into the yoghurt portion. 

Weigh and portion each flavour into 3 portions. 

Remove base from freezer. Pour in the first layer of cream cheese mixture. Allow it to spread out gently. 

Do use bowls with spouts as I find that it gives one better control of the mixture that gets poured in. 

Like this! Or pour it from a measuring cup or something. 

Into the middle of the first layer, pour in the second colour from a short height of 15cm and allow it to spread. 

Repeat with other layers. 

Pop the cake into the freezer to chill for 1h 30 mins. Alternatively, you may leave it to set in the fridge for 4 - 5 hours or overnight. 

Remove the cake by running the back of a paring knife along the insides of the cake ring/baking tin. If you are using a cake ring, free the cake ring gently. If you are using a cake tin with removable base, remove the cake by setting the tin on a higher height (example: milo tin) and pull the 'walls' downwards. 

Here's the fresh cranberries I used (:

To the water, sugar and lemon juice, add 2 handful of cranberries and bring to a boil on medium-high heat. 

Cook till berries are soft. Burst them.

Add in the rest of the cranberries and turn of the fire. Coat the cranberries in the compote.

Allow to chill completely.

Top the cake with the cranberry compote. Serve chilled. 

Check out the video tutorial here! (:

Post by Cynthia Lim.

Here are some tips and things to note when 'baking' this cake! (:

1) Do be precise with your measurements, especially the gelatin. This is the type of baking tablespoon to use:

Image taken from http://www.bakingshop.com/bc/img/MSP-47118.jpg

2) Do warm up the gelatin. If you do not have a microwave oven, you may boil it over very low fire to warm it up. 

3) Do watch the timing when setting the cake. Remove it from the freezer after the cake is set. Store the cake in the chiller. The cake stores best in an air tight container.

4) The cake contains cream cheese and even if it doesn't melt, I do not recommend leaving this for long in room temperature.

5) Do not leave the batter out for too long when preparing the cheesecake. It will firm up. 

6) The cake should be consumed within 3 - 4 days for maximum freshness. 

Beautiful slice isn't it? (:

Enjoy your beautiful slice of cake! (:

I'd love to see the bakes or stuff you've cooked using the blog's recipe! Do share photos of stuff you've baked or cooked using the blog's recipe with me either via FB message to http://facebook.com/limcynthia OR http://facebook.com/thebakingbiatch OR via email at cynthia.lim.hl@gmail.com! I look forward to hearing from you! (: