Blueberry Cheesecake

This was the first of the desserts that I made with my many pounds of freshly picked blueberries. I asked my husband what he wanted me to make and he said he did not care. I started naming off all of the blueberry things I could think of. He said, just write them all down, put them into a bowl and pick one. Humm, what a good idea! Ten minutes later I ran out to the living room requesting that my husband pick a piece of paper out of the colander. :)


As you can see by the pictures the whole swirling in of the blueberries thing did not quite work out. I ended up with a layer on top instead. Next time I would put the batter in the pan in thirds, swirling in some of the blueberry puree after each addition of batter.

At first my husband was a bit skeptical of the thought of blueberry cheesecake but he ended up really enjoying it. Although I am not a huge fan of cheesecake, I enjoyed it also. There was just enough blueberry flavor and the vanilla wafers added a great extra flavor to the crust.

This cheesecake was so un-photogenic that I almost did not blog about it. My husband pretty much refused to eat a piece until I took pictures so I decided to appease him and take some. Unfortunately, you are only going to see one of those pictures because my camera did not seem to like the dark glossy colored topping.

Blueberry Cheesecake
Source: Cookinglight.com

Ingredients

CRUST
2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 5 cookie sheets)
2/3 cup reduced-fat vanilla wafer crumbs (about 20 cookies)
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted

FILLING
2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen wild blueberries, thawed
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 1/2 (8-ounce) blocks fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs

TOPPING
1 1/2 cups fat-free sour cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

SAUCE
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup fresh or frozen, thawed, wild blueberries

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. To prepare crust, combine first 3 ingredients in a medium bowl. Drizzle with butter; toss with a fork until moist. Firmly press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 325° for 10 minutes; cool on a wire rack.

3. To prepare filling, combine 2 1/2 cups blueberries and 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a food processor, and process until smooth. Place puree in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook 6 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Cool slightly. Reserve 1/2 cup blueberry puree for sauce; set remaining 1 cup blueberry puree aside.

4. Place cheeses in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed for 3 minutes or until smooth. Combine 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, and salt. Add sugar mixture to cheese mixture; beat well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour batter over prepared crust. Pour 1 cup blueberry puree over batter; gently swirl with a knife. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until cheesecake center barely moves when pan is touched. Remove cheesecake from oven (do not turn oven off); place cheesecake on a wire rack.

5. To prepare topping, combine sour cream, 2 tablespoons sugar, and vanilla in a small bowl, stirring well. Spread sour cream mixture evenly over cheesecake. Bake at 325° for 10 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven; run a knife around outside edge. Cool to room temperature. Cover and chill at least 8 hours. Remove sides of springform pan.

6. To prepare sauce, combine reserved 1/2 cup blueberry puree, 1/4 cup sugar, and water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 8 minutes or until sauce is thick, stirring constantly. Gently fold in 1 cup blueberries. Remove from heat, and cool. Serve sauce with cheesecake.