cheesecake with lavender marionberry topping

It’s so fitting that I post this recipe today. It’s my 27th anniversary! HOW is that POSSIBLE? I am not that old. Ok. I’m old. But my brain keeps telling me I’m still the 22 year old young bride. This, along with any type of pie, is one of Craig’s favorite desserts. Too bad he and Elsie at it all before we could say “happy anniversary” to each other. 🙂

Is there anything more wonderful than marionberries? I think not! This year I bought from a farm co-op. I was most impressed with the marionberries and that’s just because they are my favorite type of berry. The growing season in Oregon is fickle. If summer starts off too hot, berries ripen too quickly and the picking season gets all wonky. We usually don’t have that problem here in the PNW. People joke that our summers don’t actually start until July 4th. But this year, it’s been hot – I mean stretches of above 90 temps. Us Oregonians can’t handle that type of heat. We like 75 with nice breezes. We’re wimps, I know.

I’ve had all sorts of fun with the 15 pounds of Marionberries I bought. My first post was a Marionberry crumb bar. I thought I’d top that by making Lavender and Marionberry Jam. And geez-louise was it good! So as not to be boring and just spread the jam on my sprouted wheat toast, I decided to make a cheesecake that could handle this type of topping.The recipe for the cheesecake comes from The Vanilla Bean. Oh my word that chick can bake! I’ve not made one recipe that I hated. Ok – I lied. I hate not hating everything. There. I had a recipe a long time ago that I used that was baked in a crockpot (!), but I can’t find it and now my crockpot is oval. So dang, that won’t work. Just trust me. This cheesecake is da bomb. My thirteen year-old kept asking me if it was “real cheesecake”. I can never tell what she means. Yes, I used cream cheese. Yes, it’s real food.You’re welcome. Now go buy cream cheese and make this. You don’t even need company. I’ll drop by and we can share a slice or two.

Cheesecake with Lavender Marionberry Topping

• Author: cheesecake from The Vanilla Bean; Marionberry jam - heidi

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Ingredients

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For the crust:

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:

• 2 pounds cream cheese, room temp
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 3 large eggs, room temp
• 1 large egg yolk, room temp

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Instructions

To make the crust:

1. Adjust rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk the graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the melted butter and mix until incorporated.
3. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan and bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
4. Wrap the sides of the pan with two layers of foil, crimping over the top edge of the pan to hold it in place.

To make the cheesecake:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium until light, fluffy, and completely smooth, 4-5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl to ensure smoothness.
2. Add the sugar and beat on medium until incorporated, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary.
3. Add the eggs and egg yolk one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the bowl as necessary to make sure everything is smooth.
4. Pour the filling into the cooled crust and use an offset spatula to smooth the top. Tap pan on counter several times to release any air bubbles.
5. Place broiler pan on bottom rack and fill with 2 quarts of warm water. Place springform pan on rack and bake for one hour without opening the door.
6. Check cheesecake at one hour – the outer ring the cake should appear slightly puffed and fairly firm; the center should be set, but a little wiggly (think Jell-O). If the outer ring is not firm, let the cheesecake bake another 10 to 15 minutes. If it is done, turn off the oven, crack the oven door a couple inches and let cheesecake rest and cool in the warm oven for 30 minutes.
7. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 5-10 minutes. Remove foil and run an offset spatula around the cake to help loosen it from the pan. This also helps prevent cracking while the cake cools. Once completely cool, place a piece of parchment over the surface of the cake to keep condensation off the surface. Let chill in fridge at least 6 hours (overnight works great).

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Notes

My recipe for Marionberry Lavender Jam is here.

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