This is a beautiful cheesecake for Easter or any Spring Day. Actually, you can serve it any day of the year, just by changing up the toppings or the decorations.
I had good amount of almond pastry filling left over from another recipe and was wondering what I could use it for. I hate to waste anything as tasty as almond pastry filling. The almond filling gives you a unique flavor in this cheesecake. Then, topped with Cadbury crispy pastel coated chocolate mini eggs, it fits right in for Easter.
Use a graham cracker or a chocolate wafer crust. Or, make an Oreo cookie crust like I did. The chocolate on the bottom of the cheesecake brings it all together. The filling is where the almond pastry pie filling is used. And, it’s delicious with a special ice cream that carries on that chocolate flavor.
One nice thing about this recipe is that it’s not a super thick cheesecake. Those cakes use 3-4 packages of 8 ounces each cream cheese. This recipe only used one 8 ounce package of cream cheese.
This cheesecake serves 8-12, depending on how you slice it.
Preheat your oven to 350F degrees.
Prep your baking pan:
- Using a 9” springform pan, spread butter on the inside bottom and sides. Cut a circle of parchment paper to fit in the bottom inside to help release it from the pan after it’s cooled. Then, spread some butter on top of the parchment paper after you have pressed the paper onto the bottom inside of the pan. No paper is needed on the sides.
- Layer 3 different pieces of aluminum foil and lay them slightly overlapped underneath the springform pan. Fold them all up around the pan. As you fold the foil up around the pan, they should overlap each other so nothing leaks out of the springform pan as your crust and, later, the cheesecake bake.
Gather your crust Ingredients:
2 ¼ C Oreo cookie crumbs
3 T Sugar
2 t Coffee beans, freshly and finely ground
5 T Butter, melted
Gather the cheesecake filling Ingredients:
8 oz Cream Cheese, soft
1 6-8 oz Almond Cake & Pie Filling
1/3 C Sugar
2 T Flour
3 Eggs
1 t Vanilla Extract
1 t Almond Extract
Make the Crust:
- Crush the Oreo cookies by inserting them into a large sealable plastic bag, placing it between two kitchen towels on a large cutting board. Pound it with a rolling pin, flipping the bag over a couple times, until the cookies are crushed into very small pieces. Another option is to place them into a food processor and pulse a few times. This will get them ground up into a finer crumb than if you pound the with a rolling pin. However, the pounding helps build those arm muscles, if you’re interested…
- Grind fresh coffee beans in a coffee grinder. I grind them 3 times in order to get a very fine grind. Add to the cookie crumb mixture in the food processor and pulse a couple times to get them mixed in completely. - I use decaffeinated vanilla almond coffee beans for this step. It’s what I drink for breakfast and also use it in many of my recipes – cookies, cheesecakes, layered cakes, frosting, etc. My beans add the coffee flavor without all the caffeine.
- In a mixing bowl, stir the cookie crumbs and sugar together completely.
- Melt the butter in the microwave and add to the cookie mixture. Stir completely until all is moistened by the butter.
- Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the springform pan by wrapping a piece of plastic wrap around your hand, or by pressing with a flat wide (hamburger) spatula or even with a flat-bottomed glass. By trying different tools, you’ll find something that works best for you. I prefer to use the flat wide spatula, myself.
- Bake for 10 minutes at 350F degrees.
- Cool completely before adding the filling.
Make the Filling:
- With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, almond filling and sugar together until light and fluffy. Make sure there are no lumps.
- Beat in the flour.
- Add the eggs one at a time and beat after each one, scraping down the sides of the bowl each time.
- Beat in the extracts. Stir and scrape the sides, making sure there are no lumps and that everything is completely combined.
- Pour the cheesecake batter over the cooled crust.
- Bake (no water bath needed) at 350F degrees for 45 minutes.
- Test and bake up to another 10-15 minutes. The middle should be just a little jiggly.
- Cool on a rack for 30 minutes.
- Slide a knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake. Do not unlatch the pan.
- Refrigerate overnight or for at least 6 hours.
- Unlatch the pan and set aside.
- With a wide spatula (or even two), lift the cheesecake from the bottom of the springform pan and set on a serving platter.
- Drizzle melted chocolate over the top and garnish with Cadbury mini-eggs for Easter.
- Or, garnish with whipped cream and halved Oreo cookies, drizzling some melted chocolate over all.
Enjoy!
Storage:
- This cheesecake easily keeps in the refrigerator up to 5 or 6 days as long as it’s kept in a covered container.
- It’s easy to freeze! I like to slice it and wrap the individual pieces in plastic wrap. Then store in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag in the freezer. By wrapping individual pieces, when you get a yearning for it, just grab a slice and thaw it in the refrigerator or on top of the counter. (It’s even good right out of the freezer!) Top it with chocolate, caramel, pecans, almonds or whatever you like. I'm sure it will last 4-8 weeks in the freezer, but I don't know of anyone with that much willpower to leave it there that long.
This cheesecake can be enjoyed at any time of the year with any of your favorite seasonal garnishes. Just decorate and “Bake your own Memories!”
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