Christmas is just around the corner and this gorgeous Boozy Cranberry Cheesecake Pie will be the star of your Xmas brunch. Besides I am sure no one will crib if you make it later too 🙂
This gorgeous Boozy Cranberry Cheesecake Pie is all set to be the star of my Christmas brunch this year. With generous amount of bourbon gone into the cranberry compote, it absolutely deserves to be I think.
A few weeks ago, US cranberries reached out to me for a collaboration request. And I was so genuinely happy to accept since cranberry juice has been my best friend for a long time. Owing to the fact that I am prone to UTI, I almost always have it in stock at home. And it only made me glad that India is turning into a focus market for this super berries, that it only means that frozen and dry cranberries will be now easier to find if not fresh ones.
Cranberries are known as American’s original superfruit because of the nutritional value they pack in. The tart berries are rich in Vitamin C and E which help blocks some of the damage caused by free radicals. Also, Vitamin C is the key to boost our immunity and fight with infectious diseases like flu, cold and cough. But that is not all, Cranberries are great for maintaining Urinary and bladder health due to the presence of Proanthocyanidins. They help combat Candida (a fungus found in the digestive tract). Eating them regularly also has been known to reduce risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. No wonder they are considered super fruits.
Note – To know more about health benefits of cranberries, read this article
How to include cranberries in your everyday diet
So now we know that these are highly nutritious, the next question is what to do with them. Here are a few ideas of how to include them in your everyday diet. I will also be sharing some recipes with them on the blog and Instagram over the next month.
- Eat them as snacks on their own. The child and I both love dry cranberries and can them on their own. A little like raisins, if you like slightly sweet snack they are just perfect.
- Use them in trail mix. The man is an aspiring runner and regular with his workouts (unlike me, who is often lazy) and prefers to have some trail mix as his post-workout snack. I often eat trail mix as a mid-meal snack. In any case, dry cranberries make an excellent addition to the trail mix.
- Use them in granola and protein bars.
- Add them to your overnight oats, muesli or other breakfast cereals.
- Bake with them – whether it is cranberry muffins, brownies, bread or this delicious Cranberry Cheesecake Pie they are perfect ingredients to bake with.
- They are a great addition to salads. The slightly sweet and slightly tart dry ones or the super tart frozen ones, both elevate salads.
- Use them in chutneys, sauce and preserves. This probably is one of the most common uses of cranberries. The legendary cranberry relish goes very well with pork and I really am wanting to slow cook some pork ribs with frozen cranberries very soon.
- Add them to smoothies, after all, they are the best way to kick-start your day.
Boozy Cranberry Cheesecake Pie
Just look at this list, I don’t think I can enough of these wonder berries. But let’s come back to our pie for now. This finger licking delicious Boozy Cranberry Cheesecake Pie was on my list of things to bake for a long time. The silky texture of cheesecake goes fabulously well with the sweet and sour cranberry sauce. And the addition of good whiskey or bourbon just makes it perfect. I used a mix of frozen and dried cranberries but the recipe will work with dried alone as well.
If you want you can replace the bourbon with orange juice but I strongly recommend that you don’t. The booziness really adds to the pie flavor.
So without further ado, here is the recipe.
If you bake this delicious and gorgeous pie, do share a picture with me. Tag #sinamon on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. I would love to hear from you so do share the good things, the brickbats and if you want any clarifications about the recipe.
Disclaimer – This post is brought to you in collaboration with US Cranberries.
Boozy Cranberry Cheesecake Pie
Ingredients
For the shortcrust pastry
- 375 g plain flour
- 50 g icing sugar
- 200 g butter
- 1 egg
For the cranberry compote
- 100 gm frozen cranberries
- 50 gm dried cranberries
- 100 gm sugar
- 60 ml bourbon
- 1 tbsp orange zest
For the cheesecake filling
- 200 gm cream cheese at room temprature
- 100 gm Mascarpone cheese at room temprature
- 100 ml heavy cream
- 100 gm icing sugar
Instructions
- To make the pastry base, add the flour, icing sugar and butter to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, you can do this with hand also by rubbing the butter and flour in between your finger tips. Add the egg and pulse again until the dough comes together. Wrap in cling wrap, then rest in the fridge for about 1 hour.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the pastry until 3-4 mm thick. (you can freeze the remaining pastry for up to 4 weeks). Line the buttered tart tin with pastry, then rest in the fridge for 15 minutes to chill.
- Bake for 15 minutes till the pastry is crisp and slightly browned. Let it completely cool before using
- For the compote : mix all the compote ingredients and bring to boil in a heavy bottom pan. Reduce the heat and let it simmer till thick and strawberries are soft. This should take about 15 minutes on low heat. Keep aside for cooling.
- Whip the softened cream cheese, mascarpone and sugar together till soft and smooth
- Whip the cream into soft peaks. Now fold the whipped cream into the cheese mixture gently. Use a silicon spatula or a perforated spoon for doing this. Perforated spoon helps in maintaining the lightness you have built into the whipped cream.
- Pour this in the cooled pie shell. Pour a little of cranberry compote and swirl in the cheesecake mixture, like you would do for a marble cake.
- Spread the remaining cranberry compote on top and chill for 3-4 hours.
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