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Spumoni Cheesecake

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Happy Monday!  I baked you a cake.  I hope you like cheesecake.  And Spumoni!

I have been a huge Spumoni lover ever since I was a little kid.  It was usually a delicious mixture of cherry, chocolate, and pistachio ice cream.

 

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And let me tell you, it is hard to find in this here southern state.  So, for the last few weeks I have been contemplating making my own.

 

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But, Jiminy Cricket it has been cold?  Who wants ice cream during an ice storm?  Or when it is 12 degrees outside?

 

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Well, except on Friday when I was having a bad day and Jennifer and I thought it was a good idea to go to Chick-fil-A for Ice Dreams?  Yeah, that happened.  The Chick-fil-A lady totally laughed and made fun of us.

But I felt better.

 

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So then I had an epiphany!  Spumoni Cheesecake!  I started thinking about this Spumoni cake I had in a restaurant last year on my birthday.  It was some kind of white cake with Spumoni like features in it.  That’s all I can really remember except that I loved it.  So my crazy brain thought process went along the lines of Spumoni – ice cream – Spumoni – cake – what the heck was in that?  It was kind of like that scene in Working Girl when Tess (Melanie Griffith) has to explain how she came up with the merger idea and she’s all “Trask-Radio-Trask-Radio” – if you haven’t seen the movie, you should.  It’s an oldie but goodie.  Anyway, that’s when I had an epiphany to make a Spumoni Cheesecake.

 

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I’m so glad I did!

 

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Spumoni Cheesecake

Ingredients

For the Crust

  • 2 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 1/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa I used Hersey's Special Dark
  • 10 tablespoon butter melted

For the Cheesecake

  • 5 8 oz blocks of cream cheese room temperature
  • 1 2/3 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 5 eggs
  • 2/3 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 splashes of heavy cream
  • 1 cup maraschino cherries halved
  • 1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice
  • 1 cup pistachio pudding adapted slightly from Joy The Baker, recipe included

For the Pistachio Pudding

Pistachio Paste

  • 1/2 cup salted pistachio nuts
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 Tbs water

Pudding

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract

Instructions

  1. Put the pistachios and sugar to the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add water and blend until it resembles a chunky paste
  2. Move the pistachio paste to a small saucepan on medium heat, add milk and whisk over medium heat until hot
  3. Whisk together sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch until combined - it will be thick
  4. Pour 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture and whisk, continue adding 1/4 cup of milk to eggs at a time 3 more times
  5. Return the milk with egg mixture to the saucepan on medium heat
  6. Heat until thick and bubbly, constantly whisking for about 1 minute or until thick
  7. Remove from heat, stir in butter, vanilla and almond extracts
  8. Push pudding through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl or container to make sure any cooked eggs are left behind, toss any nuts from the strainer into the bowl with the pudding
  9. Cover pudding with plastic wrap so that the plastic is on top of and touching the pudding (this will prevent the weird pudding skin from forming)
  10. Put the pudding into the freezer for about 15-20 minutes to get it to room temperature quickly
  11. While the pudding is chilling make the cheesecake and the crust
  12. Combine graham crumbs, chocolate, sugar, and melted butter
  13. Press into the bottom of and up the sides of a spring form pan
  14. Add all 5 blocks of cream cheese to the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment
  15. Whip the cream cheese on low for 2-3 minutes, until fluffy
  16. Sift flour and sugar together and add to cream cheese a little at a time until combined
  17. Add vanilla
  18. Crack eggs into a measuring cup and add to cream cheese one at a time, until combined -- CAREFUL not to over mix them or your cheese cake will have cracks, rise and sink
  19. Remove the bowl from mixer, tap on counter a few times so the air bubbles will rise, let sit for 20-30 minutes
  20. Melt chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of heavy cream in a small saucepan, stir to combine
  21. When melted and combined, add a couple of splashes of cream and combine, let cool to room temperature
  22. Divide cheesecake batter between 3 bowls evenly
  23. Fold in cherries and juice to the first bowl
  24. Fold in 1 cup of pistachio pudding to the second bowl
  25. Fold in melted chocolate to the third bowl
  26. Pour the cherry batter into the prepared crust and set on a flat surface in the freezer for 20 minutes, remove from freezer
  27. Using a soup ladle or large spoon and a spatula with wide holes, hold the spatula about 1 inch above the cherry batter and pour the pistachio batter over the spatula moving slowly around the pan until all pistachio batter is covering the cherry batter - this keeps them in layers
  28. Preheat oven to 350
  29. Put the pan back into the freezer for another 20 minutes
  30. Add the chocolate batter using the same process as with the pistachio
  31. Lay out 2 pieces of heavy duty foil in a deep roasting pan
  32. Carefully set the spring form pan on top of the foil and secure around the sides to keep the water bath separated
  33. Pour hot water into the roasting pan about halfway up the sides of the spring form pan
  34. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes
  35. Lower the heat to 325 for another 60 minutes or until set, checking after each 20 minute period
  36. Remove from heat, cool completely and refrigerate uncovered overnight

Pistachio Pudding adapted from Joy The Baker

A lot of the technical information I learned from this video

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Comments

    • rachelle

      Ha Ha, Olivia! Glad I could help out with your sweet tooth! Wish I could send you some – at least then I wouldn’t eating it all!

      Reply

  13. Natalie @ Tastes Lovely

    How have I never had spumoni anything before? The flavor combinations sound amazing! And you are such a brave eater to like it when you were little. Not sure I would have eaten pistachio as a little girl, haha! Can’t wait to make this cheesecake : )

    Reply

    • rachelle

      Oh my goodness, Natalie! Spumoni is so good! You really have to try it. I would love to hear how your cheesecake turns out!

      Reply

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