Ingredients
Crust:
12 oz. Gingersnaps
3 Tbsp. Butter
Cranberries:
3 cups Cranberries
1 cup Water
1 cup Sugar
½ tsp. Orange Gelatin
Cheesecake:
4 packages Cream Cheese
1 cup Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
4 Eggs
Topping& Decoration:
9-12 Cranberries
1 Egg White
1 Tbsp. Sugar
Mint Leaves
¾ cup Heavy Cream
1 Tbsp. Sugar
❃❃Serves 6-8❃❃
Preparation
Pulse gingersnaps in a food processor until they are the texture of sand.
Melt butter, separate one egg keeping egg white and sift through cranberries removing stems and any old cranberries.
Preheat oven to 375.
Crust
Mix the melted butter into the gingersnaps and press into the bottom of a 9” springform pan. Bake on 375 for ten minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
Turn oven down to 325.
Once cooled place a piece of foil large enough to go up the sides of the spring form on the bottom of a roasting pan. Set the springform pan on the foil and fold up the sides to ensure the entire springform pan is covered on the bottom and sides. This will ensure water from getting into the pan during baking.
Cranberries
Add cranberries, water and sugar to a saucepan over medium high heat. Cook until cranberries have all popped, are soft and the mixture is thick. Remove half to a bowl to cool slightly and in the remaining half add the ½ tsp. orange gelatin.
Cheesecake
In the bowl of a stand mixer add the cream cheese and sugar. Mix until well combined and then add one egg at a time mixing until entirely incorporated. Add vanilla. Remove from mixer and by hand stir in the cranberries that were set aside to cool in a bowl. Pour into the springform pan. Place roasting pan with spring form pan inside of it on the oven rack and then slowly pour hot water into the roasting pan about ½ way up the sides of the springform pan. Place in oven and bake for 1 ½ hours.
Turn oven off and leave the cheesecake in the oven to cool down slowly. Once cooled to room temperature remove from oven.
Gently and evenly spread the other half of the cranberry mixture, with the gelatin in it, over the cheesecake.
Whip Cream
In a bowl beat the cream and sugar with a handheld mixture until it is has formed very, very stiff peaks. Gently and evenly cover the top of the cranberry layer with the whip cream layer. Refrigerate covered for at least four hours.
Sugared Cranberries & Assembly
In a small bowl beat the egg white. Drop the cranberries in to the egg white coating completely and then roll in sugar ensuring they are completely covered in sugar. Place 2 mint leaves in three areas on the top of the cheesecake and then arrange three cranberries in each area to look like berries of holly.