|
Coconut Cheesecake Recipe
The most decadent and delicious coconut cheesecake in the world! Well worth the time & effort!
Coconut Cheesecake Ingredients
Crust Ingredients
7oz (or 200g) sweet cracker crumbs (eg, Graham crackers etc)
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
Filling Ingredients
1 x 14oz (or 400ml) tin coconut milk (lite or reduced fat is fine)
32oz (or 900g) cream cheese, room temperature
6 eggs, room temperature
3 limes, juiced
1+ 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup shredded coconut, ground
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
Coconut Cheesecake Directions
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F (or 175 degrees Celsius).
First we'll make the base of the cheesecake.
So, into your trusty food processor, add the cookie crumbs, sugar, salt and coconut (from the "crust ingredients" list).
Combine until the mixture looks a bit like damp gravel (sorry, but it's true!).
Spoon the mixture out into a large bowl.
Mix in the melted butter.
Combine well.
Press the crust mixture in the bottom of a lightly greased 9" (or ... cm) springform/ cheesecake pan.
Ensure the crust mixture is pressed in evenly and firmly, but be careful not to press too hard so that you crush the life out of the biscuit mixture.
Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, or until the crust has turned a light golden brown and smells delicious.
Take the crust out of the oven and allow it to cool for 12 - 15 minutes (about the time it should take you to prepare the filling - convenient, eh?!)
Reduce the temperature of the oven to 325 degrees F (or 160 degrees Celsius).
In a large saucepan, start to boil 3 quarts (or 2.5 litres) of water.
While the oven is cooling down and the water is starting to boil, pulse the shredded coconut in the blender until it is finely ground.
Set coconut aside.
Into a large bowl, combine the cream cheese and the sugar with a hand held mixer on medium-low speed for approximately three minutes.
Once the mixture has started to lighten in colour and look a little like whipped cream, add the eggs slowly, one at a time.
Please ensure each egg has blended thoroughly before you add the next egg.
Also, make sure you are regularly scraping down the sides of the bowl so that you don't end up with cream cheesey lumps at the end and so that the mixture blends well.
Pour in the coconut milk.
Finally, add the final three ingredients: the vanilla, salt & coconut.
Cover the base of your now-cooled springform/ cheesecake pan in aluminium foil to help avoid any leaks.
Pour the delicious filling onto the biscuit mixture base of the springform/ cheesecake pan.
Once all the mixture is poured in, gently shake and tap the pan in order to remove any lingering air bubbles.
Sit the springform/ cheesecake pan into a large roasting pan, then sit the roasting pan on the middle shelf of your now-cooled oven.
Very carefully pour the boiling water from the stove into the roasting pan and around the springform pan (try not to splash any either on yourself or onto the cheesecake!).
Bake the cheesecake for one and a half hours.
Turn the heat of the oven off, open the oven door just a crack and allow everything to sit there for five minutes.
Close the oven door again and allow your cheesecake to sit for a further half an hour.
Remove the cheesecake from the water in the roasting pan and allow it to sit, cooling, on your bench for 20 minutes.
Cover with aluminium foil and refrigerate for 4 - 5 hours (or overnight, if possible).
Please do not try to skip any of the above cooling steps! If you do, your cheesecake will most likely fall apart once you try to remove it from the springform/ cheesecake pan!
The following day (preferably) when you remove it from the refrigerator, the cheesecake will be firm.
Gently run a knife around between the sides of the springform/ cheesecake pan and your cheesecake, then unlatch the pan and gently lift it over the top of the cheesecake.
Voila! A perfect cheesecake!
Slice generously and serve with a dollop of thickened cream and some extra coconut sprinkled on top.
Serves: 12
Photo by Indabelle
|
|
