Cherry Swirled Cheesecake

Valentine's Day just isn't complete without a decadent treat.  Last year I made Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes for Valentine's Day.  Those little cakes are so good, especially with a scoop of ice cream!

This year I'm making Cherry Swirled Cheesecake.  My husband loves cherries and chocolate together.  I can't see why he wouldn't love a piece of this rich cheesecake swirled with a cherry sauce and baked on top of a chocolate cookie crust.  This is a perfect Valentine's Day dessert! 

This recipe is part of the Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge.  In this challenge there are two ingredients that must be used together in a dessert each month.  This month those two ingredients were chocolate and cherries, a great combination for Valentine's Day!

Ingredients (printable recipe)
Crust
1 1/4 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (I used Oreos without the cream)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
Cheesecake
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
3 large eggs
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cherry Sauce
1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling or topping
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Combine cookie crumbs, sugar and melted butter; press firmly on bottom of 9 inch springform pan.
2. In blender, puree cherry pie filling until smooth. Then, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add eggs, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well.
3. Pour half of the batter into pan; top with 1/2 cup of cherry puree. Repeat one more layer batter and puree. With a toothpick or knife, swirl puree into cheesecake mixture.
4. Bake 50-55 minutes or until center is set.* Cool, chill completely.** Overnight in the refrigerator is best. Serve with remaining puree. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.
Serves 12

*Every oven is different, but it took an extra 15-20 minutes in my oven for the center to set.
**Here are some great tips from ehow on how to remove your cheesecake from the springform pan.   Cool and refrigerate for 2-3 hours before removing!

Adapted from Allrecipes/Eagle Brand Recipes

Here's my sweet little helper crushing the Oreos. This was a great job for these little hands.

The chocolate cookie crust pressed firmly on the bottom of the springform pan.

Cherry Pie filling pureed in the blender.

Here's my sweet little helper again! I already had a bag of Meyer lemons. We used about 5 or 6 to get 1/3 cup of lemon juice.

First, a layer of cheesecake on top of the cookie crust.

Next, 1/2 cup of cherry puree

Another cheesecake layer and cherry puree. I used a toothpick to swirl the cherry puree into the cheesecake batter. Isn't it pretty!

 See the yummy layers of cheesecake and cherry puree!

The Results...

Beautiful.  Sweet.  Rich.   

What's not to love!  

We gave this recipe 4 1/2 stars (out of 5)---almost perfection.  There was just one little thing that I would change next time.  I would slightly reduce the amount of butter in the crust to 1/4 cup instead of 1/3 cup.  As it baked, the butter oozed out from the bottom of the pan and when I pulled it out of the oven, butter dripped onto the floor. (I made this a second time and 1/4 cup butter worked much better. I've adjusted the recipe.) 

It still tasted wonderful.  I haven't made a lot of cheesecakes, but this is the best tasting cheesecake that I've made!  Cherry Swirled Cheesecake is a love-ly way to end a sweet day.  

 Happy Valentine's Day! 

Take a look at all the delicious chocolate and cherry dessert recipes from the Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge!

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Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake Balls

Isn't this a brilliant idea to combine cake balls with chocolate covered cherries!  I found this recipe on Hungry Happenings.  Beth from Hungry Happenings made these as a valentine treat.  I thought these would be terrific for the holidays, too.  We love chocolate and cherries together, especially  my husband.  This recipe went right to my must-make holiday treat list this year!

Ingredients (printable recipe)
1 box of cake mix, whichever flavor you like (I tried a white and a dark chocolate cake mix)
eggs, water, oil as directed on box of cake mix
1/2 cup frosting (I used Duncan Hines classic white)
40 Maraschino cherries with stems
2 (12 oz.) packages of Wilton white candy melts or about 1 lb. of Ghiradelli dipping chocolate
wax paper or parchment paper
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your cake mix as directed on box. Bake and let cool completely.
2. Crumble the cake into a large bowl. Add the 1/2 cup of frosting and combine using a hand mixer. Keep mixing until you get a similar consistency to cookie dough, about 2 minutes on medium speed.
3. Scoop mixture out by a Tablespoonful. Roll into a ball.
4. Drain maraschino cherries and pat dry with a paper towel. Using your thumb make a dent into the ball. Add the cherry. Bring cake mixture up and around cherry. Roll in hands to make a nice round ball.
5. Follow package instructions for melting your dipping chocolate. Dip each cake ball and set on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper. Let chocolate harden.
6. Store in the refrigerator, but bring to room temperature before serving.
Makes approx. 40 cake balls

Adapted from Hungry Happenings

Here are the ingredients I used. I also used a Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix (it isn't pictured) for the dark chocolate cherry cake balls.

I added a 1/2 cup of classic vanilla frosting to each of the baked and crumbled cakes.

After mixing with the hand mixer for about 2 minutes, I had a consistency similar to sugar cookie dough. I used a Tablespoon to measure out the cake balls.

Cherries drying

First, I took a ball and used my thumb and made an indent in the middle. Then, I added the cherry. Finally, I pushed the cake ball around the cherry and rolled in between my two hands to make these nice little round cherry balls.

Here's the Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake mixed with 1/2 cup of classic vanilla frosting.

I added the cherry in the middle just like the others.

I was so busy dipping all these cake balls that I didn't stop to take a photo. But, I simply followed the microwave instructions on the packages of dipping chocolate. For the white chocolate I used Wilton Candy Melts and for the dark chocolate I used Ghiradelli Double Chocolate candy dipping bar. Both were very good!

The Results...

I'm so glad I gave these a try.  They turned out just as delicious as they look!  Everyone loved them.  I asked each person in my family to try a white chocolate and a dark chocolate cherry cake ball and tell me which they liked better.  My husband couldn't decide, he said they were both equally delicious.  The kids also happily ate both kinds.  I suggest you add these to your must-make holiday treat list, too.  You won't be disappointed.  

Happy Holiday Baking!

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