Blackberry Cheesecake with Grand-Ola Crust

As a chef there are very few, rare occassions where I get the urge to bake.  This weekend I was given a huge bowl of freshly picked, beautiful wild blackberries.  This inspired me to try a new twist on my always faithful cheesecake recipe.  The base is a my favorite Schlabach’s Grand-Ola, the middle is a slightly tart and light cream cheese mixture and all of this is topped with a glorious blackberry gel.  The combination of textures and flavors in this dessert make it an obvious hit.  Try it with any fresh berries that you can get your hands on, simply vary the flavor of jell-o that you use.

Blackberry Cheesecake with Grand-Ola Crust

1 ½ cups Schlabach’s Grand-Ola
1 Tbsp Butter, melted

Crumb grand-ola in food processer, then blend with melted butter.  Place in the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan.

2 lbs Cream Cheese, softened
1 ¼ cup Sugar
2 Tbsp Lemon Zest, fine
2 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
1 tsp Vanilla
4 eggs

Whip cream cheese in mixer until fluffy, add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.  Pour cream cheese mixture over crust and gently hit the bottom of the pan on the counter (about 10 times) to let the air bubbles out.  Place pan in baking pan with a high edge and fill pan with water- about 1 inch up the side of the spring form pan.  Bake at 325 degrees until top is lightly golden (about 45 minutes).  If the top begins to crack you are beyond done. 

For Blackberry topping:

1 ½ qt Fresh Blackberries
3 cups Cold Water
1 cup Sugar
1 box Blackberry Jell-O
½ cup Clear Jel

Cook water, sugar and jell-o in medium sauce pan until it boils.  Create a slurry with clear jel with just enough water to make a thick paste.  Pour slurry into boiling mixture and remove from heat.  Allow mixture to cool slightly then fold in berries.  Chill and then spread over cold cheesecake.


~SD