I’ve been serving this cheesecake for many years, having gotten the original recipe from the old Gourmet magazine. (I think.) It’s very unusual, with a flavor combination of white chocolate and ginger that’s just delicious. As with any good cheesecake it’s very rich, but that richness means that a little goes a long way. Dividing it up into muffin cups is a great portion control mechanism. If you eat only one you’ll be well within the 25-gram added-sugar limit for one day. The picture, however, is of a leftover portion baked in a small pie plate.
White Chocolate Ginger Cheesecake
This cheesecake will be a great hit at a party. The unusual flavors make it a standout.
My best guess for sugar content is around 20 grams, or 80 calories, per individual serving. Remember, this is just calories from sugar, not total calories!
Ingredients
For crust:
- 24 gingersnap cookies
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- 2-3 tablespoons crystallized ginger, finely chopped
For filling:
- 1 pound good-quality white chocolate Don't use anything that doesn't list cocoa butter as an ingredient. I usually use Ghirardelli's especially if it's on sale, but I've also used Baker's with good results. Because Baker's comes in 6-oz. packages instead of 4-oz., I just go ahead and use 3 packages.
- 4- 8-oz. pkgs. cream-cheese, room temp.
- ¼ cup sugar You don't need much sugar b/c of all that sweet white chocolate.
- 4 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2/3 cup minced crystallized ginger
Instructions
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Heat oven to 300.
For crust:
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Process graham crackers in food processor until finely ground, then pour in melted butter, process until clumpy. Put a heaping tablespoon of this mixture in each muffin cup lined with a foil liner.
For filling:
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Melt chocolate in microwave, using the 50% power setting for 2-3 minutes until partially melted, then stir until melted completely and cool to lukewarm. White chocolate scorches easily, so check it often.
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Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and yolk 1 at a time, beating just until combined after each addition. Beat in vanilla and ground ginger. Gradually beat in melted white chocolate. Stir in crystallized ginger.
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Transfer filling to prepared crusts, filling about 3/4 full. Bake about 15 minutes and then check.
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Chill completely before serving. You'll notice that I saved some of the crust crumbs to sprinkle on top. Original recipe says that you can decorate the top with candied ginger and white chocolate curls, which would be beautiful but a lot of work.
Recipe Notes
These cheesecakes freeze beautifully, and since they're so small you don't have to worry about thawing them out. They're actually very good frozen, so if you forget to take then out you're still fine. If they need to sit out for a short time, though, then they'll stay cold if they start out frozen. Otherwise, if these need to sit out for any length of time and especially if they're not frozen, rigging up some sort of ice pack to put underneath the serving tray is a good idea. I often use ziploc bags filled with water, made as flat as possible by pressing air out, and the frozen between two platters.
