Cranberry Cheesecake
Cranberry Cheesecake is a graham cracker crust, creamy vanilla cheesecake, and swirled with a homemade cranberry filling. This baked cranberry cheesecake is one that you will truly enjoy if you are a fan of cranberry.
Do you love cranberries and need more recipes in your life? These will do the trick. I have some Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies, Cranberry Orange Rolls, Cranberry Orange Muffins, or this Cranberry Red Currant Cheesecake.
With Christmas right around the corner, you might be thinking how can I use up fresh cranberries. This cranberry cheesecake recipe is a fantastic dessert to do so.
How to make Cranberry Cheesecake
Graham Cracker Crust | I went with a traditional cheesecake crust on this recipe. Graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter pair wonderfully.
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Add them to a bowl, stir to until the crumbs are coated with butter and firmly press the crust down using the bottom of a cup or hand. Chill in the fridge.
Cranberry Sauce | 4 ingredients is all you need to whip up this cranberry sauce. It is sweet and a little tart, which makes this cheesecake so incredible. I have to warn you that this sauce does take some time and a few additional tools to provide the perfectly smooth, and creamy sauce.
Start by adding the cranberries, sugar, water, and cornstarch to a saucepan and cooking it over medium heat until the cranberries become soft and pop.
Pop the cranberry sauce in a food processor or blender to puree it. Finally, the last step is to run the cranberry puree through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any skins or seeds that remain.
Cheesecake Filling | Now you will work on creaming your cheesecake filling together. Do this by beating your cream cheese in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Add in the sugar and flour and beat until incorporated.
Beat in the sour cream and then add in the heavy cream and vanilla extract and beat those in. Adding liquid a little at a time is best otherwise your cream cheese mixture can quickly become lumpy.
Lastly, beat in the eggs one at a time and scrape down the bowl after each addition. Once ready pour half of the batter into your pan and then one-third of the cranberry puree. Scoop the remaining cheesecake on top using a spoon to cover the cranberry puree that's in the middle.
Add the remaining cranberry sauce to a sandwich bag and cut a hole in one of the corners. Stick the hole barely down into the cheesecake and pipe a swirl. Give the cheesecake a tap and it's ready to bake.
Bake and Chill | Bake as directed and then allow your cheesecake to cool and set up in the fridge. When ready decorate or serve plain.
How to freeze Cranberry Cheesecake
If you are looking to freeze your cheesecake, it is really easy to do. Once your cheesecake has chilled overnight and is fully set up, place the cheesecake in the freezer until frozen, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then place in an airtight freezer container. The cheesecake can be frozen for up to 3 months.
When you're ready to thaw it, just remove the plastic wrap, place it back in the container, and put it in the fridge overnight to slowly defrost.
Don't add the whipped cream or white chocolate drizzle to the cheesecake before freezing it.
Recipe FAQs
You can expect your cheesecake to store in the refrigerator for 4-6 days. If you don't plan to eat it right away, I do recommend freezing so you can save any cheesecake that could spoil if not frozen.
If you want to use canned cranberry sauce you are more than welcome to. Both the jellied cranberry sauce or the whole berry cranberry sauce will work. I would recommend heating it up in a saucepan over medium heat until it loosens up before adding it to the cheesecake.
If you have some cranberries in the freezer, pull them out and go right ahead and use them. Toss them in the pan frozen. It will take just a bit longer to heat up, so factor that in when cooking on the stovetop.
You shouldn't have any extra sauce, but if you do I would recommend using it in some fun turkey cranberry sliders or you can always whip up a second cranberry cheesecake to give away.
How to Know When Cheesecake Is Done
You will know when your cheesecake is fully done when you gently jiggle it and the center of the cheesecake will jiggle just a bit like Jello, while the outside of the cheesecake will be set. If you find it is jiggling all over you need to bake the cheesecake longer.
If your cheesecake is browning more than you like, tent the cheesecake by folding a large piece of tin foil in half and placing it over top of the cheesecake.
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Cranberry Cheesecake
Ingredients
Cranberry Filling
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- ½ teaspoon cornstarch
Crust
- 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
- 5 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
Cheesecake
- 24 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup full-fat sour cream
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
Instructions
Cranberry Filling
- In a medium saucepan, add in cranberries, sugar, water, and cornstarch. Place over medium/low heat and cook for 5 to 8 minutes until the cranberries pop and become soft.
- Add the cranberry filling to a food processor or blender and pulse until the filling is creamy. There will still be cranberry skins in it.
- Add the filling to a fine-mesh strainer and strain out the skins and any large bits. Set the filling aside to cool while working on the crust and cheesecake.
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray the sides of a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick baking spray and place a 3-inch wide parchment paper strip along the sides of the pan.
- In a medium bowl, add in the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter. Stir until the butter has thoroughly coated the crumbs.
- Pour the crumbs into the prepared springform pan.
- Firmly press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan and place in the fridge to firm up while working on the cheesecake batter.
Cheesecake
- Add the cream cheese to a large mixing bowl. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed until smooth.
- Add the flour and granulated sugar and beat until combined.
- Add the sour cream and beat until incorporated.
- Add the heavy cream and vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the eggs one at a time. Beat in each egg until combined before adding the next. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in any remaining bits that need to be incorporated.
- Pour half of the cheesecake batter into the prepared pan.
- Spoon about ⅓ of the cranberry filling on top of the cheesecake batter.
- Pour the remaining cheesecake batter on top of the cranberry filling to cover them up. Give the cheesecake a tap on the counter.
- Add the remaining cranberry filling to a sandwich bag and cut a small hole in the corner of the bag.
- Place the hole of the sandwich bag slightly in the cheesecake batter and begin piping a swirl with the cranberry sauce. Don't go too deep with the filling otherwise you won't see it on top.
- GIve the cheesecake another tap to even out the filling and cheesecake batter.
- Wrap the springform pan with 2 layers of heavy-duty tin foil. Place the cheesecake in a slightly bigger pan and fill with one inch of water.
- Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour 25 minutes to 1 hour 35 minutes or until done. To make sure the cheesecake is done, gently the outer pan a wiggle. If the cheesecake slightly jiggles in JUST the middle like jello, then it's done. The outside of the cheesecake will be set and shouldn't move. If it jiggles all over, it needs to bake longer.
- Once done, turn the heat off and open the oven door just a crack to cool. Let it cool in the oven for 1 to 2 hours until it reaches room temperature and then place in the fridge to chill overnight.
Notes
Nutrition
(Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.)
