Londonderry Cheesecake
Serves 8-10 Prep Time 20 minutes | Cook Time 2 hours 20 minutes
Ingredients
Crust
1 ½ cups Sifted all-purpose flour
6 tbsps. Sugar
1 tsp. Grated lemon zest
¾ cup Butter
½ tsp. Vanilla
2 Egg yolks
Filling
4 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
1 ¾ cups Sugar
1 cup Finely grated, very sharp natural cheddar cheese
½ tsp. Grated orange peel
½ tsp. Grated lemon peel
4 Eggs and 2 egg yolks
¼ cup Beer
½ cup Heavy or whipping cream
Instructions
Crust
- In a medium bowl, combine first three ingredients.
- With a fork or pastry blender, cut in butter until crumbly then, using a fork, stir in 2 egg yolks and vanilla to form a dough.
- Refrigerate 30 minutes and preheat oven to 400°F.
- Press one third of the dough evenly on the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.
- Bake for 10 minutes until golden brown. Let cool.
- Press the rest of the dough around the sides of the springform pan, within 1 inch of the top.
- Set aside.
Filling
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on high speed until fluffy.
- Gradually add the finely grated cheddar cheese, beating until well blended, about 5 minutes.
- Turn oven to 500°F.
- In a medium bowl, combine sugar, vanilla, orange and lemon zest.
- Add gradually to cream cheese mixture, beating until smooth. Add the eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Stir in beer and cream.
- Pour filling into 10 inch springform pan.
- Bake 10-12 minutes, or until top is golden brown, then reduce oven heat to 250°F and continue baking 2 hours or until top is firm and toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.
- Cool on a wire rack. Once completely cool, remove the sides of the pan, wrap loosely in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.
- For serving, add 1/3 cup of sugar to a tub of sour cream and spread it on the centre of the cake.
Served with a fruit plate, this is a nice play on cheese as dessert. Pair with a fruity style beer for a treat.
