Many, many years ago I came across a recipe for Peppermint Twist Cheesecake on the Epicurious website that sounded so good, I had to try make it for Christmas dinner. It was my first time making a ‘real’ baked cheesecake and the start of my love affair of baking and creating cheesecakes. This is my take on that recipe with lots of peppermint flavor. It is now a requirement to have this cheesecake for the holidays.
Check out the original recipe here.
Crust
- 1 sleeve of chocolate graham cracker crumbs (9 sheets – about 1 1/4 cup) or 2 cups of chocolate Teddy Graham crumbs (comes out to about 1 1/3 cups of crumbs)
- 3 Tablespoons white sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
Filling
- 32 oz cream cheese, softened (4 – 8 oz blocks)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream (room temperature)
- 4 eggs (room temperature)
- 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies or mini candy canes
- red food coloring
Topping
- 1 1/2 cup sour cream, cold
- 3 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
- red food coloring
Additional crushed peppermint candies or mini candy canes
Directions
Crust: Preheat oven to 350oF (rack in the center of the oven). Cover the bottom of a 9″ springform pan with parchment, attach the sides over the paper (this makes it easy to remove the cake if you want to put on a serving plate). Then cover the outside of the springform pan with aluminum foil so that the butter doesn’t leak onto your oven. Spray inside of pan with non-stick spray. In a small bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs with the sugar, and salt. Add the melted butter and mix until the crumbs are coated. Pour crumbs evenly into the prepared springform pan and gently smooth out. I only like a crust on the bottom, but if you like it on the sides; work the crumbs up the sides so that they go about halfway up your pan. Place pan into the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool while preparing the filling.
Filling: Reduce the oven temperature to 300o. In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and sugar on medium speed for 2-4 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla, peppermint, and sour cream then beat on medium until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on low-medium just until incorporated. Don’t over mix the eggs. Add the crushed peppermint candies and stir. Remove 1 1/2 cups of batter to a small bowl, add a couple drops of red food coloring and stir well. Alternate spooning the 2 batters of filling over the crust, then swirl batter with a knife. Bake for 70-80 minutes. Cake is done when the center is set with a little jiggle. Remove cake from oven and sent on rack. Keep oven on while preparing the topping.
Topping: In a small bowl add the sour cream, sugar, vanilla, and peppermint, mix well. Remove 1/2 a cup of the topping to a small bowl and add a drop of food coloring and mix well. Spoon alternating amounts of the 2 toppings on top of the warm cheesecake then carefully swirl topping with the back of a spoon. Put cheesecake back in oven for 8 minutes for topping to set. Remove from oven, set on a wire rack and let cool completely. Refrigerate uncovered overnight. Run knife around the outside edge of the cake and release sides. Garnish with crushed peppermint candies prior to serving.