Gingerbread Cheesecake

This Gingerbread Cheesecake is velvety smooth, creamy and flavored with all of the warm spices you love in gingerbread cookies. The cheesecake is sweetened with brown sugar and molasses, and has a delicious blend of gingerbread spices that make your house smell amazing as this bakes! The delicious filing sits on top of a buttery cinnamon sugar gingersnap crust. The cheesecake is topped with a sweet cream cheese whipped cream and gingerbread cookies for the perfect finishing touch.

There’s nothing I love more than the smell of gingerbread baking in my oven during the Christmas season. Gingerbread just has the perfect blend of spices that make your house smell so warm, cozy and just like Christmas and the holiday season!

I really wanted to make a Christmas cheesecake this holiday season. To be honest I didn’t start making a lot of cheesecakes until about a year ago. I learned to make cheesecakes years ago and made them when I was working in the baking industry, but in my own kitchen, I rarely made cheesecakes. Whenever I made desserts in the past, I always wanted the dessert right away. Between working and kids, I just never planned my desserts ahead. Well, I finally feel I have a handle on planning meals and desserts with my busy household, and cheesecakes have been a dessert that has become a staple in our house.

For my Christmas cheesecake, I debated for some time whether I wanted to make a sugar cookie cheesecake or a gingerbread cheesecake, but settled on making this gingerbread cheesecake first. This just felt like the holiday season to me. I mean, what’s not to love about gingerbread and all the delicious warm spices that fill your house as it bakes? I have a feeling you will fall in love with this gingerbread cheesecake from the minute you smell it baking in the oven.

The details

The components

the crust

This gingerbread cheesecake gets amazing flavor from the crust. The crust is made from ground up gingersnap cookies. Alternatively, you could also use gingerbread cookies. The cookies are blended with butter, brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon. The flavor of the crust is seriously delicious!

The filling

This smooth and creamy cheesecake filling is divine! The cheesecake has a blend of warm gingerbread spices that add all of the flavors of gingerbread you know and love. It’s the perfect amount that leaves the cheesecake with the wonderful flavors of gingerbread without being overpowering. The gingerbread cheesecake filling is sweetened with molasses and brown sugar, adding to the nostalgic gingerbread flavors.

My favorite part of this cheesecake is how smooth and velvety the filling is. This is thanks to a blend of sour cream and heavy cream. The sour cream softens the cream cheese just enough to make the texture a bit softer, while also adding its own slight tangy flavor. Heavy cream also helps to soften the texture of the cheesecake and adds moisture, without adding tangy flavor.

the topping

We can’t forget the topping for this gingerbread cheesecake! While it is simple, it certainly does add flavor. Piped swirls of cream cheese whipped cream sit around the edges of the cheesecake, while gingerbread cookies sit nestled into the swirls. You can make your own gingerbread cookies, or use store bought.

Ingredients

• Gingersnap Cookie Crust
  • gingersnap cookie crumbs
  • brown sugar
  • unsalted butter
  • ground cinnamon
• Filling
  • brown sugar
  • cream cheese
  • sour cream
  • vanilla extract
  • molasses
  • heavy cream
  • ground cinnamon
  • ground ginger
  • ground nutmeg
  • ground cloves
  • ground allspice
  • eggs
• Whipped Cream
  • heavy whipping cream
  • cream cheese
  • confectioners’ sugar
  • vanilla extract

Here’s how to make the gingerbread cheesecake

make the crust

The first thing you’ll want to do when you begin making this Gingerbread Cheesecake, is to make the crust. The crust needs to pre-bake in the oven for roughly 8 minutes. This pre-bake helps to create a crisp and sturdy crust before the filling is added.

This crust uses either gingersnap or gingerbread cookies. The flavor from the cookies in the crust is just divine! It truly adds to the cheesecake. You’ll add the cookies to a food processor and grind until the cookies are finely ground. Next, add in the melted butter, sugar and cinnamon. Pulse until mixture is combined and crumbs are moistened from the butter.

This crust has a blend of warming, comforting spices that truly take the flavor of this cheesecake up a notch.

make the filling

I think, honestly, getting the cheesecake filling to be perfectly smooth is the hardest part about making cheesecake. I’ve found that beating the cream cheese, by itself, scraping the bowl down a couple of times, then adding in the other ingredients is the key to ultra smooth and creamy cheesecake.

So, begin by beating the cream cheese, and scraping the bowl down 2-3 times. Beat until the cream cheese is light and fluffy. Next, add in the sour cream, sugar, vanilla extract, molasses, spices and heavy cream. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Make sure you scrape your bowl down a couple times throughout the process. This ensures the gingerbread cheesecake filling is getting fully mixed and creates the perfect smooth, creamy filling.

Add in the eggs, one at a time and mix JUST until combined. At this point, you don’t want to overmix the cheesecake batter as it could cause the surface to crack when baked.

assemble and bake the cheesecake

Pour the cheesecake filling on top of the cooled gingersnap (or gingerbread) cookie crust.

Wrap the sides and bottom of the cheesecake with aluminum foil, then set the cheesecake in either a roasting pan, or a 12 inch round cake pan. Pour hot water so that it is 2 inches up the side of the pan. You want to make sure the water does not go over top of the aluminum foil covering.

Bake the cheesecake 70-80 minutes in a 325F oven.

chill the cheesecake

After baking, allow the cheesecake to chill in the oven with the door propped open for 1 hour. After that hour, remove the gingerbread cheesecake from the oven and cover the top of the cheesecake with a piece of plastic wrap, making sure it doesn’t touch the surface of the cheesecake. Allow the cheesecake to chill 4 hours in the refrigerator, or up to overnight.

make the cream cheese whipped topping

When ready to serve, you will make the topping. Certainly you can use store-bought whipped cream, but I’m telling you, the hint of cream cheese in this homemade whipped cream takes the flavor up a notch. You’ll beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract, scraping the bowl down a couple times, until smooth and creamy.

Add in the heavy cream and whip until stiff peaks form.

top the cheesecake

When ready to serve, add the whipped cream to a zip-top bag or piping bag. Pipe swirls around the outer edge of the cheesecake, then top with gingerbread cookies.

How do I know when my cheesecake is done?

If you are new to cheesecake baking, this can sometimes be difficult to know at first, but I promise once you get the hang of what it should look like, it’s easy to spot it.

jiggle test

To test if the gingerbread cheesecake is done, use an oven glove or mit to grab the side of the large pan the cheesecake is sitting in. Gently shake the pan. If the edges are set and only the center jiggles slightly, the gingerbread cheesecake is done.

Here are a few of my favorite cheesecakes

• Blueberry Cheesecake
• Lemon Cheesecake

Let me know what you thought!

If you make this Gingerbread Cheesecake for your Christmas cheesecake, this holiday season, let me know what you thought in the ratings and comments below. I absolutely love reading all of your comments! Also, make sure to snap a picture and tag me @simplebakingwithpep on instagram. It truly makes my day to see all of your wonderful creations.

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