Spiced Cheesecake

Name: Spiced Cheesecake
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h 25 min
Yield: 1 9inch cheesecake
Ingredients: 2 cups pecans, toasted (or walnuts or hazelnuts or almonds or a mixture, 8 oz); 1 tablespoon granulated sugar; 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted; 2 lbs full-fat cream cheese; 1 cup mascarpone cheese; 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar; 2 large eggs; 1 pinch salt; 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice or 1 teaspoon orange juice; 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1 pinch ground cloves; 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg (fresh is preferable)

Submitted by P48422

"I have a friend who loves spice cake. Now, she loves this spiced cheesecake, too. Very nice and light and the nut crust is perfect with the spicy flavors of the filling."

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Ready In:: 1hr 25mins
Ingredients:: 12
Yields:: 1 9inch cheesecake

ingredients

CRUST
2 cups pecans, toasted (or walnuts or hazelnuts or almonds or a mixture, 8 oz)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
FILLING
2 lbs full-fat cream cheese
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1 ¹⁄₄ cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice or 1 teaspoon orange juice
¹⁄₄ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground cloves
¹⁄₄ teaspoon grated nutmeg (fresh is preferable)

directions

Oven to 325 degrees F.
Wrap the bottom of the springform pan tightly in foil.
CRUST: Finely grind the nuts and sugar in a food processor- be careful- don't overprocess.
Just until the nuts are in very, very small pieces, not a paste!
Turn out into a bowl, add the melted butter and mix until it comes together.
Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan and bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until it looks"dry".
Cool to room temperature.
FILLING: In your mixer bowl, combine the cream cheese, mascarpone and sugar.
Using the paddle attachment on med-low speed, beat just until smooth.
Add the remaining ingredients and mix on low speed until well combined.
Pour the filling over the crust.
Place the cheesecake in the larger pan, and place that pan on the middle rack of your oven.
Pour water into the baking pan until it comes half-way up the sides of your springform pan.
Bake until the sides of the cheesecake are set, but the center is still a little jiggly (like fresh jello).
This should take about 45-55 minutes.
Do not overbake!
Don't worry about the jiggle- the cake will firm up while chilling.
Carefully remove the cheesecake from the larger pan, and run a very thin knife around the edge of the pan to prevent the cake from sticking to the sides.
Let cool completely to room temperature, then refrigerate for several hours, or overnight before serving.
NOTE: This cheesecake freezes very well for several months if you wrap it tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap.
It is best if if made the day before you serve it.

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Reviews

A wonderfully creamy cheesecake with a delicate spiced flavor and an awesome nut crust! I collect good cheesecake recipes and this is a definite keeper. The only modification I made was to add a bit of whipping cream (probably 1/4 cup)to the filling after all the other ingredients had been mixed in. The filling as written is drier than I am used to, and I was concerned that the finished cake would be dry. My concern was needless - this is one of the creamiest cakes I have even made! We could not wait until the following day to sample it as suggested. It was great on day one, but even more awesome on day two. Thanks, PetitFour!

JOAN S.
I made this as specified last night as I'm on a nutmeg and cloves kick this week. I used a mix of pecans and walnuts for the crust.<br/><br/>It is *delicious*. I baked it without the water bath, careful not to overbake or overmix, and there's no cracking and it's still very moist. Some friends I had over said it is "literally the best cheesecake [they]'ve ever had" and that it "ruined cheesecake for [them]" because nothing else can measure up.

Sapph