Wanna Green Bean

29 April 2009

Bakers Challenge: Margarita Cheesecake

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge. We had free reign over what to do with said cheesecake recipe, as in adding toppings, flavors, etc. so I made a real Margarita Cheesecake, much, much, much, better than the no-bake version I made a month or two ago.

I must say, this cheesecake is the creamiest and the smoothest – texture wise, but my margarita version has quite a bite!

Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake (Margarita Flavored):

crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
1 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tbsp kosher salt

cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lime juice
zest of 1 lime
1 tbsp tequila (I prefer 1800)
1 tbsp gran marnier

Margarita Curd Topping:
1/3 cup margarita (however you like to make them – alcohol included!)
2 large eggs
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled
1 tbsp heavy cream
pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too – baker’s choice. Set crust aside. (If using a springform, set the bottom of the pan into and pull it up around the sides leaving the top open to fill with the filling. This keeps the water out and your crust from getting soggy!)

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, lime juice, lime zest, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy. (I actually ended up adding approximately another tablespoon or two of the alcohol and it didn’t mess with the recipe too much, if anything I think it helped keep it smooth and silky instead of that crumbly-ish sandy-ish texture.)

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done – this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill.

6. While the cheesecake is cooling, make the margarita curd. Heat the margarita in a small non-reactive saucepan over med heat until steaming (but NOT boiling!!!!). Whisk the eggs and yolk in a bowl, then slowly whiskin the sugar.

7. Whisking constantly, slowly pour in the hot margarita mix into the eggs (this is tricky, but you can do it!). Return the mixture back into the pan head over medium, stirring constantly (SERIOUSLY!) until the mixture is thick enough to cling to the spoon, about 3 mins.

8. Remove the pan and slowly stir the butter in one piece at a time, not adding more butter until each individual piece has melted/disappeared. Really, you have to do this, it sucks, I know. Then stir in the cream and salt, and pour through a fine mesh strainer. If the curd is still warm, cover with saran wrap (so it doesn’t get a skin) and cool in the refrigerator.

9. De-pan the cheese cake, top with the curd and enjoy!

(PS I apologize to the daring bakers for posting this two days late! I’m still trying to figure out where everything is in the forum!)

Tags: baked, dessert, sauces, sweet

April 29, 2009, 01:21:24 PM | Permalink | Subscribe | Stumble It! |