My Favorite Cheesecake

My Favorite Cheesecake

Posted by Rivka on Mar 31st 2018

This weekend is a crazy one for an interfaith family like mine; when Passover and Easter collide it never makes meal planning easy or fun. This cheesecake recipe has been a favorite and go to of mine for several years now, and is made Passover friendly by using ground matzo or matzo meal in the crust. It's also easily made gluten free with there being several "Gluten Free" matzo products on the market, including this one

So feel free to play around with the recipe a little and make it your own! I've swirl jam into the cheesecake before baking, and I've spooned jam on top when serving- both ways were well received. Feel free to let me know your favorite way to cheesecake, and your favorite jam pairing, I'd love to hear from you!

Passover Friendly Cheesecake:

Crust:

3/4 cup toasted almonds

2/3 cup white sugar

2/3 cup matzo meal, store bought or matzo that you've pulsed in a food processor

1/4 tsp salt

8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

Filling:

3 packages softened cream cheese, 24 oz total

3/4 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350*F.

Pulse dry ingredients for crust in food processor until well combined, then transfer to bowl. Stir in slightly cooled butter and mix until crust starts to form. Press firmly and evenly into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a springform pan. Bake crust 10-15 minutes (depending on oven), until firm and slightly darker. Remove from oven and cool in pan on a rack.

Lower oven temperature to 300*F.

Beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating mixture thoroughly between each egg. Once full incorporated add vanilla and mix to combine.

Pour filling into springform pan. If adding jam to swirl into batter, do so at this point. Bake cheesecake until there is a slight center wobble but filling is set; 45-50 minutes.

Remove cake from oven and place springform pan on cooling rack. Run butter knife along edge of crust and pan to loosen from sides carefully. Remove springform pan sides but leave cheesecake to cool completely on base for 3 hours.


For a nut free crust, recommendations include: sunflower seeds, roasted soybeans, or pretzels (not Passover friendly, but perfect for Easter or any other time of the year).