Brandied Cranberry Sour Cream Cheesecake

Ingredients

CRUST

• 3 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter

CRANBERRY TOPPING

• 340 g cranberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons brandy

CHEESECAKE LAYER

• 3 (225 g) packages cream cheese (NOT low-fat)

• 2 cups sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 3 large eggs, room temperature

SOUR CREAM LAYER

• 2 cups sour cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. 2

   CRUST.

3. 3

   Stir all ingrediants together until crumbly. Press into the bottom and to the top of the sides lightly greased 9" springform pan. Place on a baking tray & bake for 10 minutes. Then cool while preparing other ingrediants.

4. 4

   CRANBERRY TOPPING.

5. 5

   Simmer all ingrediants over Medium heat, stirring occasionally, until most cranberries "pop", about 20 minutes. Cool, then chill completely.

6. 6

   CHEESECAKE.

7. 7

   reduce oven to 325 degrees. Beat cream cheese until smooth & fluffy. Gradually add sugar while beating, scrape sides often. Beat in cornstarch & vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, scraping well after each addition. Scrape into crust (only will go 1/2 way). Bake 30 minutes.

8. 8

   SOUR CREAM LAYER.

9. 9

   Stir sour cream, sugar & vanilla to blend. After cheesecake has baked, remove CAREFULLY & GENTLY dollop sour cream layer on cheesecae. Spread until even & return to oven for 30 minutes. (Mine took an extra 5-10 minutes to set.).

10. 10

    Chill overnight before garnishing.

11. 11

    To garnish, spread cranberries over top of chilled cheesecake & chill until ready to slice.