Crème fraîche cheesecake with honey-rum-roasted pineapple
After the success of my last several cheesecakes, we decided to branch out from just the regular NY-style into something a little more adventurous and tropical, apparently. David had been on a kick making his own crème fraîche lately, so we had a whole jar to spare. When I came across a recipe for crème fraîche cheesecake, it seemed to be a match made in Philadelphia cream cheese heaven. Plus, honey-rum-roasted pineapple sounded like an intriguing and novel addition to traditional cheesecake.
Recipe
from Bon Appétit DessertsCrust1 cup graham cracker crumbs1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted1 tbsp sugarFilling3 8-oz packages cream cheese, room temperature1 cup sugar1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise2 large eggs3/4 cup crème fraîche or sour creamTopping1 pineapple, peeled, cut into 1/2" thick rounds, cored1 cup water1/4 cup honey2 tbsp sugar2 tbsp dark rumPreheat oven to 350 F. Blend all crust ingredients in bowl until crumbs stick together. Press crumb mixture onto bottom (not sides) of 9" diameter springform pan. Bake crust until golden, about 12 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool. Wrap outside of pan with 3 layers of heavy-duty foil. Reduce oven temperature to 325 F.Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean (reserve bean for another use). Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in crème fraîche. Pour filling over crust. Place pan in roasting pan and add enough hot water to roasting pan to come 1" up sides of cake pan. Bake cake until top is dry-looking and slightly puffed, about 1 hour. Turn off oven. Let cake cool in closed oven 1 hour. Remove from water bath; remove foil. Chill uncovered until cold, at least 6 hours.Preheat oven to 400 F. Place pineapple rings on large foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bring 1 cup water, honey, sugar, and rum to boil in small saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spoon syrup over pineapple. Roast pineapple 12 minutes. Turn rings over; roast until tender and syrup thickens, turning rings every 5 minutes, about 20 minutes longer. Cool pineapple on sheet. Cut into 1/3" cubes; transfer pineapple and syrup to bowl. Drain pineapple, reserving syrup. Cover top of cheesecake with some pineapple; stir remainder back into syrup. Serve cake, passing pineapple in syrup separately.
Musings
The addition of crème fraîche (as well as 2 packages less of cream cheese) made for a substantially lighter cake. I found it very tasty, and it certainly could hold its own against NY-style. The syrup on the pineapple never really syrup-ized, but the honey-rum combination had its intended effect on the pineapple. The citrusy sour-sweetness of the pineapple was a lovely counterpoint against the creaminess of the cheesecake. I brought this to my weekly meet-up with the Thai Cultural and Fine Arts Institute, and it seemed to be a hit (went home with only a couple pieces left). I'll take that as a win.