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Recipe Detail Page
Pear Cheesecake
Autumn 2007
An easy mixture that makes a flavourful cheesecake.
1 tbsp (15 mL) butter
2 Bartlett pears, peeled, quartered, cored and thinly sliced
½ cup (125 mL) granulated sugar
Mascarpone Cream
1 cup (250 mL) mascarpone
¼ cup (50 mL) whipping cream
3 tbsp (45 mL) plain yogurt
Pinch salt
1/3 cup (75 mL) sugar
1 tsp (5 mL) grated lemon rind
1 tsp (5 mL) cardamom
2 eggs
1. Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C).
2. Place buttered parchment paper on baking sheet. Top with pear slices and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until pears are tender and slightly caramelized. Cool.
3. Reduce oven heat to 350°F (180°C).
4. Combine mascarpone, whipping cream, yogurt, salt, sugar, grated lemon rind, cardamom and eggs. Whisk together until well combined.
5. Butter 6 muffin pan cups and line with parchment paper on the bottom and sides. Fill three-quarters of the way up with mascarpone mixture.
6. Place muffin tin in a larger pan and fill pan with hot water halfway up sides of tin. Bake until mixture is still slightly loose in the centre, about 18 minutes. Let sit in water bath for 5 minutes or until set. Remove muffin tin from pan and let cool in the refrigerator.
7. Place Lemon Ginger cookies (recipe follows) on serving plates. Run a knife around the mould to loosen, turn moulds out and place on cookies. Place caramelized pears on top and around the sides. Drizzle Cranberry Jus (recipe follows) over dessert.
Lemon Ginger Cookies
Cut these cookies the same size as the mould used for the Pear Cheesecake so that it will fit on the cookie.
1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour
1 tsp (5 mL) ground ginger
¼ tsp (1 mL) nutmeg
¼ tsp (1 mL) cinnamon
¼ tsp (1 mL) cloves
½ cup (125 mL) butter
¼ cup (50 mL) packed brown sugar
¼ cup (50 mL) granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp (10 mL) lemon juice
2 tsp (10 mL) grated lemon rind
1. Sift together flour, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. Set aside.
2. Cream butter in a separate bowl or in an electric mixer. Add sugars and beat until fluffy. Add egg yolk and lemon juice and rind and beat well. Stir in flour mixture until blended. Gather dough into a ball, place between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll thinly. Chill for 15 minutes or until firm.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
4. Use a cookie cutter to cut chilled dough into 2-inch (5-cm) rounds. Repeat with remaining dough.
5. Bake on ungreased cookie sheets for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden. Cool on racks.
Cranberry Jus
If you are using 100 percent juice cranberry juice rather than the sweetened 'cocktail', add 1 tbsp (15 mL) sugar before reducing. If juice thickens too much when cooled, add a little hot water to get the right consistency.
2 cups (500 mL) cranberry juice
4 cardamom pods
One 3-inch (8-cm) strip lemon peel
4 slices ginger, the size of a quarter, smashed
1. Place all ingredients in a pot over high heat and bring to boil. Boil for 15 to 20 minutes or until mixture is syrupy. Strain and cool.
Makes about 1/2 cup (125mL)
