Blackberry Chèvre Cheesecake

With our home grown abundance of blackberries, and summer season coming to an end, I wanted to make something special for our family this past week. I started with a cinnamon, pecan, and graham cracker crust. Followed by the sweet and tangy blend of chèvre, cream cheese, and sour cream. Then our teenage son prepared and marbled in freshly made blackberry syrup for a truly decadent treat! This recipe can also be easily substituted with different berries or flavors like lemon or chocolate depending on your taste, or simply enjoyed plain!

The Cookie Crust

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Graham Crackers (2 sleeves from a store-bought box)
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 Cup Melted Butter
• 1/4 Cup Pecans
• 2 Tbsp Granulated Sugar

Instructions:

1. Blend graham crackers and pecans in a blender to make crumbs.
2. Combine the crumbs in a bowl with cinnamon and sugar and mix until incorporated.
3. Pour in melted butter and mix until thoroughly combined.
4. In a spring form cheesecake pan, pour in the crust mixture and use your hands to press down the crumbs to form a solid and even crust.
5. Make sure to form the crust so it covers the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides of the pan. You want to make sure that it will hug the cheese filling around the edges so none of the filling drips out.

The Cheese Filling

Ingredients:

• 8oz Chèvre Cheese
• 8oz Cream Cheese
• 8oz Sour Cream
• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 3 Eggs

Instructions:

1. Soften your cheeses on the counter while you are working on the crust portion of the recipe.
2. In a mixing bowl add the chèvre, cream cheese, sour cream and sugar and mix with an electric mixer until creamy and all visible lumps are gone.
3. One at a time, add the eggs, mixing to incorporate each egg thoroughly but gently. Do not over beat the mixture once the eggs have been added!
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared crust in the spring form pan.

The Berry Marble

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Fresh Blackberries
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tbsp Granulated Sugar

Instructions:

1. Add blackberries to a blender and blend until pureed.
2. Strain the blackberry puree through a fine mesh strainer to remove seeds.
3. Rinse the blender and put the strained berry juice back in.
4. Add the vanilla and granulated sugar and blend again until fully incorporated.
5. Carefully dribble the sauce over the top of the cheesecake and using a toothpick, create a marble effect by swirling the blackberry sauce around in the cheesecake mixture.

Final Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place Cheesecake pan on a baking sheet to help protect in case of dripping through the bottom of your spring form pan.
3. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the outer few inches of the cheesecake are solid. The center, about a one inch portion in the middle, will still be a little jiggly. That’s how it should be.
4. Remove from the oven and add whole fresh blackberries to the top of the cheesecake for garnish.
5. Cool on the stove top for about 20 minutes then lightly cover with a tea towel and move to the refrigerator to chill overnight, or several hours at least.
6. Serve once fully cooled and set.

Final Note: For this recipe, I did not use a water bath and I did get some cracking in my filling, which was to be expected. The taste was superb though. But if appearance is important to you, look into how to bake a cheesecake in a water bath to help avoid cracking.