A few years ago we started getting Vanilla Bean Cheesecake for our Christmas dinner dessert. That thing is a pile of heaven on a plate, and I rarely shared any leftovers. This year, however, we can’t afford the $35-55 price tag, so I decided to make a cheesecake.

I have never made a cheesecake before.

First I searched around the net for cheesecake recipes. There must be a billion. I brought my choices down to three: one found at TasteSpotting, one with sour cream in it, and a Cheesecake Factory Vanilla Bean clone. After some hemming and hawing, and buying the ingredients for the sour cream cheesecake, I ended up deciding on the clone. What can I say: I love the vanilla bean. I also wanted to do the chocolate mousse topping for it and located a recipe for chocolate mousse. My decoration: crushed candy canes.

The cheesecake wasn’t too bad. I actually managed to pick up a springform pan for $10 (got a $5 discount with my Kroger card). I think I overcooked it a little: the sides are a bit dark. The top cracked and it sank when it cooled. It ended up being…ummm…a little unattractive. But it’s my first and I figured my mousse would cover at least the sunk in, cracked top.

Shouldn’t have counted on that. The mouse most definitely did not work: the chocolate got too hard in the fridge and then nothing set up when everything was finally combined. I ended up dumping it all, putting the Cheesecake int he fridge and going to bed (it WAS 3 A.M.).

This morning, on twitter, someone suggested putting sour cream on it and letting it soak in. I figured it wouldn’t soak in since the cheesecake was pretty chilled by then. But she did spark an idea, and I located a Sour Cream Cream Cheese Frosting. It whipped up nicely, filled the indention, and was the perfect canvass for my topping. Because my mousse failed and I still had some white chocolate chips, we crushed some of those up and added that to the crushed candy. It’s still not the prettiest cheesecake on the block, but it looks much better, and it is my first cheesecake.

And it tasted pretty good. Not heaven on a plate, but good enough.

I do think I want something different for the crust. It came out a bit dry. And I might want to try some sour cream or lemon or something in the cheesecake. I’ll have to think about that. The Cheesecake Factory vanilla Bean doesn’t have that tiny zing of tartness and I love it, but I also love that tiny zing of tartness you can find in some cheesecakes. lol

“Cheesecake Factory” Vanilla Bean Cheesecake (clone)
crust:
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
6 TBL melted, unsalted butter
filling:
1 1/2 lb. cream cheese, softened (3 – 8 oz tubs/blocks)
1 c. sugar
2 TBL flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 vanilla beans
4 eggs
2 TBL heavy cream
Procedure:
Heat oven to 350*. In bowl, combine crumbs, sugar, cinnamon. Add butter, mix well. Press evenly into bottom and 1/2″ up sides of 9″ springform pan. Bake about 8 minutes or until golden brown; let cool. In large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add sugar a few tablespoons at a time, then flour and vanilla. Add eggs and cream, beating on low speed until combined. Split open vanilla beans and scrape seeds and insides into batter (you can reserve pods for garnish), combine. Pour batter into springform pan and bake in the middle of oven until set—about 55-70 minutes (I did mine for 60, and I think it came out too dark). Center should be slightly soft. Remove from oven, loosen ring, and let cool in pan. Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight. Remove outer ring.

Sour Cream Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 c. sour cream
2/3 c. powdered sugar
8 oz. cream cheese
Combine ingredients in large bowl and mix until well blended.

White Chocolate Mousse
1 c. white chocolate chips
1/4 c. water
2/3 c. sugar
1 c. whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Heat water in saucepan with sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add chocolate chips and melt until smooth. Set pan in cold water to cool then place in refrigerator until thoroughly chilled. Whisk smooth. Beat cream and vanilla until stiff peaks form; fold into cold chocolate.

I’ve included the mousse recipe even though it was a disaster and I’m not sure it will set up the way I need it to for a cheesecake. I plan to try again. Since the Chef would eventually like me to bake for his restaurant, I need to work on these things until I get them right, right?