Saturday, December 13, 2008

Honey Cardamom Cheesecake with Ginger Snap and Pecan Crust and Blackberry-Bourbon Syrup


For the crust, crush up a few ginger snap cookies and a handful of pecans, then mix with melted butter into a crumbly paste. Spread out evenly on the bottom of a springform pan and put in the freezer while you mix the rest.

To make the cheesecake, mix together a block and a half of cream cheese and some honey until it's a smooth mix. Combine with eggs and a pinch of ground cardamom until smooth. Don't over-beat the batter, and try not to get a lot of air into it.

Butter the walls of the pan with the crust in it, then pour in the batter. If you're like me you probably forgot to pre-heat the oven, so set it to 350 and do something else while it heats up. Some of the butter from the crust may leak out of the pan, so you should put it on a tray or wrap the bottom in foil. Leave it in at 350 for 15-20 minutes, then put it down to 250 for about another hour. It's done when it jiggles in response to shaking and still looks a bit wet in the middle. Cool at room temperature, then in the fridge: at least an hour, preferably as long as you can stand to wait.

The sauce is very easy. Throw a handful of blackberries in a pan along with some sugar. Put the heat on until they start to cook. Take the pan off the heat, add a splash of bourbon, and then back on, tilting it to the side to ignite the booze. If you have an electric stove you might have to use a match. Let it burn itself out, then spoon or pour over a slice of cheesecake.