an even better cheesecake [guavaberry/lingonberry]

• pdf

The full dr bob illustrated humorous recipe is only available via hardcopy (detailing the Sint Maarten/IKEA anecdotal history of its origins) or on the dr bob CD, but since this cheesecake is so good (our best), we present the no frills net version. No cute story, no cute illustrations.

ingredients

crust

6 T butter (3/4 stick US, 90g Euro)

2 c finely graham cracker crumbs
[better: 1 1/2 c g.c.c. plus 1/2 c ground hazelnuts]

[if unavailable: 1 1/2 c finely ground vanilla wafer cookie crumbs plus 1/2 c ground toasted hazelnuts]

1/4 c sugar (60g)

filling

2 lbs cream cheese (4 8oz packages US, 900g Philadelphia Euro)

1 1/2 c sugar (350g)

2 T guavaberry liqueur

pinch of salt

4 large eggs

7oz Swedish lingonberry preserves (200g, half an IKEA jar)

topping

2 c sour cream

1/4 c sugar (60g)

1 t guavaberry liqueur

2 T ground toasted hazelnuts (optional)

units

1 t = 1 teaspoon

1 T = 1 tablespoon

1 c = 1 cup (holds 1/4 liter water, roughly)

instructions

CRUST

Melt the butter, mix with the crumbs and sugar, and press into bottom and side of 10 in ungreased springform pan.

BATTER UP!

Beat the cream cheese and sugar together with electric beaters until smooth, then incorporate (not a business term) the salt and liqueur, and finally add the eggs one at a time at low speed. Pour into the crust. Then with a teaspoon, dob little globs of the lingonberry preserves around the top of the batter and swirl around with a butter knife until a nice marbled pattern (which will never be seen) is achieved.

BAKE OFF

Place in preheated 350° oven for about 50 minutes. Remove for 10 minutes, while you mix up sour cream, sugar, and liqueur for the topping. Then spread topping over top (duh...), sprinkle with hazelnut crumbs and reinsert in oven 10 minutes. Remove and cool. Then refrigerate.

WAIT

At least a day. The flavor matures.

notes

The original Sint Maarten guavaberry island folk liqueur

A guavaberry reddish rum concoction having nothing to do with guava fruit.

Available at Sint Maarten Guavaberry Company, 8-10 Frontstreet, Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, N.A [Netherlands Antilles = Dutch West Indies, Carribean], free samples for vacationing tourists.

Imported to the USA by Universal Liquor Imports, Coral Gables, FL 33134.

Now occasionally available in PA at specialty stores [Ardmore] and Florida and soon in New York and California.

Great also for guavaberry coladas: 2oz guavaberry, 1oz coconut cream, 3oz pineapple juice, 1 glass of ice cubes, blended until creamy in blender. Garnish with pineapple and freshly ground nutmeg. [We returned to the Guavaberry Company store in 2001 and the free samples of this were still as terrific as we remembered.]

Let's face it: who is going to go out of their way to track this down? It is just some red berries soaked in rum, used in a small enough quantity that it basically provides a nice pink color to the batter. Substitute by pureeing about 1 T lingonberry preserves in 2 T rum and reserving a teaspoon for the topping before incorporating into the batter.

Swedish lingonberry preserves

Available at IKEA USA.

Mother Wonderful

If you really can't get the liqueur or the preserves, replace the liqueur by Frangelico (hazelnut) liqueur, do the alternate hazelnut crust and dump another half cup of toasted hazelnut crumbs into the batter to get Mother Wonderful's hazelnut cheesecake, also pretty darn good. dr bob met her [Myra Chanin] at a King of Prussia mall book signing years ago and bought a second copy of her book for the autograph. She's a nice lady and a Philly local. Buy her book [Mother Wonderful's Cheesecakes and Other Goodies] if you can. [But Amazon.com says that although it is not out of print, it is indefinitely out of stock at the publisher. Fine distinction.]

Illustrations

Slightly out of focus photos of cake in various stages are available, including the millenium four-pack edition. Unfortunately the point and shoot APS zoom, though great for vacations, is somewhat disappointing in the kitchen.