Chèvre Cointreau Cheesecake with Rye Peppercorn Crust and Campari Citrus
Serves
8
A rich, dense cheesecake that walks the sweet-savory line: tangy chèvre, Cointreau, rye flour peppercorn crust, all topped with citrus segments in a bittersweet Campari syrup. See note regarding citrus selection.
Ingredients
- Crust
1.5 C (180 g) flour: I use 160g all purpose and 20g rye
1/3 C (65 g) granulated organic sugar
1 t ground pink peppercorns
pinch sea salt
.5 C (113 g) cold butter, cut in small pieces
1 egg
- Cake
20 oz cream cheese, softened
12 oz chèvre, softened
1.25 C (243 g) granulated organic sugar
8 eggs, room temperature
2.5 T Cointreau
- Campari Citrus Topping
2 C citrus juice: pink grapefruit, orange, tangerine
2 C (390 g) granulated organic sugar
.5 C Campari
2 C citrus supremes (peeled segments with membranes removed)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400F with rack in center. Butter bottom and sides of 9 inch springform pan.
- Make crust: Combine flours, sugar, ground peppercorns, salt. Cut in butter to coarse crumbs, stir in beaten egg. Press crust evenly into bottom and halfway up sides of pan. Prick all over with a fork to impede rising, bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on rack.
- Lower oven temp to 325F. Make cake: Cream cheeses and sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating between additions. Add Cointreau and beat until smooth. Pour batter into pan. Bake 1.5 hours. Allow to cool completely in pan before serving.
- While cake is baking, make Campari citrus topping: In medium saucepan, heat citrus juice and sugar until sugar dissolves. Simmer 15 minutes until syrup begins to thicken. Remove from heat, carefully stir in Campari, simmer 5 more minutes. Add citrus supremes and remove from heat. Chill.
- To serve: Run a thin knife between pan and cake to loosen. Release and remove springform side. Spoon Campari citrus over each slice.
Notes
- Use citrus juice that’s a bit on the sweeter side, and use citrus fruit that you’d eat plain, especially grapefruit, tangelos, tangerines, oranges. Lemons and limes are too tart for this unless sweetener is increased significantly. To cut supremes easily, cut off ends of fruit, then cut off peel and outer membranes. Carefully slip knife blade between each segment along the membrane, separating it from the rest of the fruit. Drop the supremes in a bowl and remove seeds after. Squeeze out all juice from membranes over the fruit segments. Both cheesecake and topping can be made up to three days ahead, stored separately. Pair with cognac or a rich dessert wine.
