Saturday, November 10, 2012

Cranberry Topping for Cheesecake

This cranberry topping is full of seasonal flavors, orange, cinnamon, nuts and of course cranberries. I think any crust would be good, graham cracker, pastry or shortbread, homemade or store bought. I used the Small Cheesecake recipe here (minus the sour cream layer) and a store bought graham cracker crust. This recipe as written filled the pie to the top. Make your favorite cheesecake and decorate it with this colorful holiday topping!
The topping can be made a day or two in advance and gets thicker after it's chilled. If you're making a large cheesecake or a couple smaller ones use the whole bag and just double the recipe. Leftover topping would be great with ice cream or with turkey, chicken or pork (basically anything you'd eat cranberry sauce with).

Cranberry Topping for Cheesecake
1 1/2 C fresh or frozen cranberries, picked through and rinsed
Juice of one orange
1/4 + 1/8 C sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon-more if you'd like
1/4 + 1/8 C chopped nuts-your choice walnuts or pecans
  1. Place everything except nuts in pot, bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cook until the berries pop.
  2. Add nuts and remove from heat. Let cool and top cheesecake.
Tip: When cranberries pop the red color can splatter and stain things. I like to use a potato masher and try to pop them under the liquid.