Pumpkin and Spice

I love Halloween. I love vampires (though not so much Twilight-y vampires...) In honor of the holiday, and my beloved gothy bloodsuckers, I created a bloody cheesecake for our Halloween party this year.

A hazelnut flavored cheesecake with a red chambord (raspberry liqueur) flavored swirl is topped with with a "bloody" splash of frangelico spiked raspberry coulis. The flavor is smooth, rich and creamy, and the sauce offers a tart, bright note. In fact, it's really lovely enough that if you left out the red food dye in the cheesecake, it would make a delightful dessert for any occasion.

Don't be intimidated by coulis- it sounds terrifying, but it's very easy. You simply cook your fruit (in this case raspberries) with a bit of sugar until they release their juices. Then, puree and strain through a fine meshed sieve. That's it! Actually the straining is the hardest part- you have to kinda mush it around with a spatula, and it takes a little patience.

I used a springform pan, and opted to bake the cheesecake at a lower temp for a longer time. Usually, I'm a water-bath advocate, but... eh. I just didn't feel like it this time. We'll do that another time, with another cheesecake.

Oh! And it's a reduced-fat cheesecake (though it doesn't taste like it.) Not low fat, but less than a regular cheesecake. It just means you have a few extra calories to spend on tiny candy bars! Hooray!

Bleedin' Frangelico Chambord Cheesecake
Makes one 10" cheescake (about 16 servings)

For the crust-

• 1 cellophane pack of graham crackers, finely crushed
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix cracker crumbs with butter and press into the bottom of a parchment lined springform pan. Bake for 8-10min, and allow to cool before filling.

For the cheesecake-

• 1 1/2lbs (3 pkgs) reduced fat (neufchatel) cream cheese, room temperature
• 5 oz sugar
• 3 oz lowfat greek yogurt or sour cream
• 1oz cornstarch
• 3 eggs
• 20 oz whole milk
• 2 oz frangelico (hazelnut liqueur)
• 2 oz chambord (raspberry liqueur)
• red food dye (optional)

Reduce oven temp to 325F. Cream together cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy. Scrape bowl, and add yogurt and cornstarch, and mix well. Scrape bowl, and add eggs one at a time, scraping very well after each. Add the milk a little at a time, scraping the bowl well. (All this scraping prevents lumps.) Once all the milk is added, it will seem waaaaay too thin. It's okay. You didn't screw stuff up. Divide out about 1-2c of the batter. To the small quantity, add the chambord and red food dye to reach desired color. (If you aren't doing the swirl, just add both liqueurs to the main batter and skip the dye.) To the white batter, add the frangelico. Pour the white batter into the prepared crust. Carefully drizzle in the red batter to create swirls. Bake for 1 hour, or until center is just a bit jiggly. (Think jello) Turn off the oven, and allow cheesecake to sit in the cooling oven for 1 hour. Allow cheesecake to cool completely before unmoulding and serving.

For the sauce-

• 1 pkg (16oz) frozen raspberries
• 1/2-1c sugar (to taste)
• 2 oz frangelico
• 2oz chambord

In a saucepan, cook raspberries and sugar until the berries are thawed and have released their juice. Puree in the blender or food processor. Pass through a fine meshed sieve, pressing the pulp well to get out all the sauce. Whisk in the liqueurs and allow to cool. Serve on cheesecake slices with a warm glass of Tru:Blood. (I'm partial to O positive, myself...)