Holiday Cranberry Cheesecake With Chocolate Antlers
Chocolate reindeer antlers, cranberry compote topped cheese cake served as individual holiday treats.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American Fusion
Keyword Holiday Cranberry Cheesecake With Chocolate Antlers
Prep Time 30 minutesminutes
Cook Time 40 minutesminutes
chill chocolate 10 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour20 minutesminutes
Servings 8servings
Equipment
8 mini tart pans or mason jar lids
plastic squeeze bottle or piping bag with tip
Electric mixer
Ingredients
Gingersnap Crust
1 1/2cupsGingersnap cookies or graham cracker crumbs
2tbspBrown sugar
1tspCacao powder
6tbspButtermelted
Chocolate Antlers
8ozChocolate chips or squares melted
Fresh Cranberry Compote
8ozFresh Cranberries
1/2cupSugar
1/4tspCloves
1/2tspCinnamon
1tbspOrange zest
1tbspOrange juice
Cheesecake Filling
3/4cupMascarpone or softened cream cheese
1cupHeavy cream
2Eggs
1/2cupSugar
1tspVanilla extract
Meringues
1Egg white *see notes
pinchCream of tartar
1tspPowdered sugar
Raspberry Dust
1/4cupFreeze dried raspberries or strawberriescrushed
Instructions
Cheesecake PreparationPreheat oven to 375
Crust - In a food processor mix together crushed gingersnaps, brown sugar, cacao powder and melted butter. Divide the cheesecake crust evenly among 8 individual tart pans or one large buttered prepared springform pan. Press an even layer of the crust firmly to the bottom of the pan, or pans, and halfway up the sides of the pan.Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Chocolate Antlers. On a piece of parchment paper, draw the antlers, 16 for 8 tart size cheesecakes.Transfer the melted chocolate to a plastic bottle with a tip or a piping bag with a fine tip, quickly make the chocolate antlers. Chill until firm.
Cranberry Compote - In a small saucepan over medium heat, place the cranberries, sugar, orange juice, zest, cloves and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, turn down low and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Cool completely.
Cream Cheese Mixture - In the bowl of a stand mixer, food processor or large bowl with a hand mixer, whisk together on medium-high speed, the mascarpone/cream cheese, heavy whipping cream, eggs, sugar and vanilla until light and creamy. Pour even amounts of the cheesecake batter into the prepared crust.
Bake - cheesecake in the preheated oven until the top of the cream sets firm, about 10 minutes for small tarts and 30 for a larger pie. Cool on a wire rack, allowing air to circulate around the pans and stop the cooking. If using Mason jar lids, you can pop the cheesecakes out from the rim once they are cool.
Meringues - In the bowl of an electric mixer whip the egg white with cream of tartar and powdered sugar. Pipe the egg whites onto a baking sheet in a design that will best fit the top of each tart. Bake until tops look firm and start to turn gold, but only a hint of color, about 5-minutes. Remove, cool completely and sprinkle with crushed freeze dried raspberry dust.
Assemble - Place each tart on an individual plate or serving tray. Put a dollop of the whole berry cranberry sauce on top of the cheesecake. Place the raspberry dusted meringue on top of the compote and place two chocolate antlers in each tart. Serve.
Video
Notes
Instead of a meringue topping, for a faster top, a dollop of fresh whipped cream with a pinch of powdered sugar can be substituted. Leftover cranberry sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for other recipes.