Sunday, May 2, 2010

Margarita Cheesecake


Photo courtesy of B.J. LaCasse, Fine Texas Cuisine


The Lure


The Finished Product


From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite... They say third times a charm. There must be some truth to that, because it took me that long to get this cake right. I've made lots of cheesecakes over the years, but always keep coming back to my old favorite develop by Craig Claiborne for the New York Times. I thought for sure I'd found one to best it when I came across a recipe for a Margarita Cheesecake in Jon Bonnell's, Fine Texas Cuisine. While the directions were imprecise, I thought I could work my way through the omissions and still come up with a gorgeous cake. It didn't work that way. No pan size was given and I learned, to my chagrin, that a standard 9-inch springform pan wasn't large enough for the volume of batter the recipe produced. When the three hours it should have taken to bake the cake turned to four, I realized that that a convection oven was probably used to test the recipe. The biggest disappointment was the appearance of the cake. It bore no resemblance to the gorgeous photograph that lured me to the recipe in the first place. I realize that recipes used in restaurants don't always transpose to the home kitchen. This may have been one of those cases, but it is clear to me that the recipe was never tested in a home kitchen or these omissions would have been caught. The thing is, I didn't pay for the cookbook or three pounds of cream cheese to learn that this way. I groused a bit, actually I cussed a lot, but I was determined to make a Margarita Cheesecake. I did that by going back to ground zero. I added orange liqueur, tequila, lime juice and zest to Craig Claiborne's recipe and ended up with a fabulous cheesecake that's worthy of the fifth of May or Mother's Day. Here's the recipe that worked.

Margarita Cheesecake
...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, inspired by Craig Claiborne

Ingredients:
1⁄2 tbsp. butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest
2-1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2-1/2 tablespoons orange liqueur
2-1/2 tablespoons tequila
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-3⁄4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs

Directions:

1) Move oven rack to lowest position in oven and preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 3-inch deep 8" round one-piece cake pan all the way up to and including its rim with butter.
2) Combine lime zest, lime juice, orange liqueur and tequilla in a small bowl. Set aside.
3) Place cream cheese into bowl of a standing mixer and beat on medium high, scraping sides and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula often, until completely smooth. Beat in vanilla and sugar well. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, but do not overbeat. Stir in juice and liqueur mixture lemon zest and juice with a spatula or spoon.
4) Generously spray buttered cake pan with nonstick spray, then pour in batter. Place cake pan inside a larger 3-inch deep pan. Place it in oven and pour hot water into larger pan, about 1-1/2-inches deep. Bake until top of cake is rich golden brown and feels dry when touched, about 1-1/2 to 1-1/2 hours (cake will be soft inside and become firm when cooled and refrigerated).
5) Lift cake pan out of water and place it on a cake rack. Let cake cool in pan for 3 hours. Cover pan with plastic wrap. Place a flat plate on top, invert, and remove pan. Sprinkle bottom of cake with graham cracker crumbs. Gently place another flat plate on top of crumbs. Very carefully invert again (without squashing cake), leave plastic wrap in place, and refrigerate cake overnight. Very carefully remove plastic wrap. Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Cook's Note: This is a soft cheesecake and can be difficult to cleanly slice. I actually put the cake in the freezer for an hour before cutting to assure clean looking slices.

You might also enjoy these recipes:

Mini Black-Bottom Cheesecakes with Jam - The Food Addicts

Mocha Cheesecake - Evil Shenanigins
Mini Red Velvet Cheesescakes - Slashfoods

58 comments :

Mary | Deep South Dish said...

Oh Mary, you are as stubborn as I am I'm afraid! Glad you finally worked through that!

Ciao Chow Linda said...

Mary at Deep South Dish can call it stubborn, but I call it tenacity. Good for you for working through it to produce a wonderful looking and I'll bet tasting cheesecake.

PeggyR said...

Oh my that sounds yummy! This month is fairly quiet so I hope to do some cooking and will definitely be trying some of your recipes!

Ren- Lady Of The Arts said...

this may be the best looking cheese cake I have every seen.
I think cheese cake and margarita is the perfect marriage.
This I will have to try! Thank you for your creativity and for sharing your results.

Debbi Does Dinner Healthy said...

Thank you for sharing the results of your hard work. It IS frustrating to make a recipe to find that it resembles nothing like it is supposed to. This looks fantastic!

Jeannie said...

Wow! That is one perfect looking cheesecake! Glad you've finally found success in modifying the recipe!

Angie's Recipes said...

Mary, you are a genius! I simply love this cheesecake with tequila kick!

theUngourmet said...

Glad to hear it finally worked out. This flavor of cheesecake sounds divine!

Sushma Mallya said...

wow what a beautiful cheese cake, would love to try this one,...simply superb and have a lovely weekend mary

Cherine said...

Cheese cake and margarita, what a great combo! Your cheese cake looks sooooo good!

Diane said...

I love cheesecake and now you have done all the ground work I will give this a try. I hate it when things don't go according to plan especially if you have followed the directions to a T. Such a waste! Diane

Lucie said...

I'll take the "Finished Product" over the "Lure" any day, Mary! Bravo for transforming a recipe and making it your own, wonderful cake!

Deb in Hawaii said...

Although not a huge cheesecake fan normally I would make an exception for this one--I love all the flavors!
;-)

Hayley said...

Kudos to you Mary..that cheescake looks awesome..I'm making today cheescake too...ofcourse without eggs!!

Deana Sidney said...

Fabulous cake, Mary. I am with you on those badly written recipes. Just went through it myself with a French cake... no pan size and the temperature was all wrong. Made me so mad. What are they thinking? Glad that Craig pulled you through to the other side with a great base recipe. All that lime sounds like heaven. Thanks for the great recipe walk through!!

MaryMoh said...

I wish that all my recipes will be at its best at my 3rd attempt but many did not :D Well, have to Keep Learning Keep Smiling :D Your cheesecake looks so tempting. Hope to make someday. Thanks for sharing. Have a lovely Sunday.

Allie and Pattie said...

Mary, I'm rather known for my cheesecakes and can totally understand the desire to get it down right! A Margerita cheesecake! I'm definitely going to make this for our neighborhood party this week
xoxo Pattie

Joanne said...

I hate it when cookbooks don't quite test their recipes in a realistic way! I'm so glad you figured out how to make this work, though, because this cheesecake sounds delicious. Way better to enjoy margaritas like this, in my opinion.

Hootin Anni said...

I've come across those kinds of recipes also in my time. But unlike you, I always gave up. You rock!! This looks absolutely divine and after consuming it, it's would look even BETTER for second helpings, I'm sure.


Mmmmmm. "rubbing my tummy'

Martha said...

I've not often had a printed receipt that has failed so when it does it is frustrating! Margarita cheesecake-- perfect for cinco de Mayo or even dos de Mayo!

Federica Simoni said...

geniale questo cheese cake!!! complimenti!

Unknown said...

Wow that looks absolutely delicious and soo easy to make....even me a non baker can do it....LOL!!!

Alicia Foodycat said...

I love margaritas. I love cheesecake. I am so impressed that you persevered until you'd made a perfect one! I would have been SO annoyed after wasting all that time and ingredients!

I've got the tequila and cointreau, so now I need an excuse to make this!

Anonymous said...

Wow....that is a beautiful cheesecake. I alreadly love deep dish margarita pizza. Thanks for the recipe as well. Keep up the great work with your articles and please stop by my health blog sometime. The web address is http://healthy-nutrition-facts.blogspot.com/.

Jen_from_NJ said...

Thank you for trying again and sharing your perfect recipe! Your cheesecake looks amazing and the timing is perfect for a Cinco de Mayo celebration.

From the Old InkWell said...

MMMMMM...two of my favorite things together! OH MY!

T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...

Wow - that looks festive, indeed! Here's to perseverance! Enjoy!

tasteofbeirut said...

I have never seen nor tasted a margarita cheesecake before! What a great idea! I noticed some tequila in the batter too!Wonderful.

pigpigscorner said...

Never give up! Congrats on getting it right! Looks and sounds amazing!

Big Dude said...

With that title and the existence of tequila and triple sec it has to be good and it looks delicious - it just went on the try list.

Mary Bergfeld said...

Davon, I am unable to comment of your wonderful blog. I'm so glad you stopped by to visit. I hope you'll join us often. Have a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

Christine said...

I love your sticktoitiveness! :) Beautiful cheesecake and perfect for the season.

Rachel Cotterill said...

I love cheesecake. I've never had tequila so I can't quite imagine how this one will taste, but it looks great!

Alessandra said...

Absolutely fabulous! Good determination pays :-)

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

keeper recipe that you will see one day soon on my site!

And that is why I get more recipes from blogs that are kitchen cooked vrs cookbooks

GREAT post

Sweet Southern Prep said...

Wow! I love margaritas and cheesecake, so putting them together is going to be pretty much perfection! Wonderful idea. :)

Valérie said...

What a wonderful flavour idea! Kudos for being stubborn and trying until you got it right!

Kerstin said...

What a lovely sounding cheesecake - and so perfect for Cinco De Mayo!

Beth said...

It makes me sooo mad to buy a cookbook and then realize no one even bothered to test the recipes...it is one of my pet peeves. I think its not that uncommon either.

Your cheesecake looks delicious!

Velva said...

I am glad that you were determined to figure out how to make this luscious margarita cheesecake. I do believe you got it! This is really quite beautiful.

Khadija El Mary said...

That looks awesome! What a shot! You're amazing! Thanks for sharing.
Cheers

Julie said...

Thanks for doing the legwork (and the cussing) for me! Two of my favorite things together in perfect harmony, cheesecake and margarita...yum!

Reeni said...

I admire your tenacity! It is frustrating when you put your time and energy into something that doesn't work out. What an impressive outcome! This is lovely.

Rue said...

Two of my favourite things, coming together to form a perfect dessert! This is one I have to try!

Devaki said...

Isn't that the way Mary! Some of the greatest inventions in the home kitchen come from kitchen mishaps!

It is wonderful that your perseverance paid off as it usually does. Recipes that never work out the way they're meant to from cookbooks etc is the bane of my existence!

Your cheesecake is wonderful & is perfect for Mother's day!

Ciao, Devaki @ weavethousandflavors

Biren said...

What a delicious looking cheese cake! Glad that it eventually worked out :)

Kathryn said...

This looks and sounds delicious!

The Kitchen Masochist said...

I'm loving the flavors in this cheesecake, Mary! I have never tried margarita with cheesecake. This certainly looks like a recipe worth trying.

penny aka jeroxie said...

Alcoholic cheesecake is a clear winner for me. YUm!

AmyW said...

That looks amazing. Wish I had the nerve to attempt the recipe.

Thank you for your kind words on my blog. I've already bookmarked your page. Your recipes and pictures are gorgeous! I'm one of those folks that collects cookbooks (and cooking blogs) but ends up making the same old same old. Maybe someday...

Unknown said...

I like Margarita and I love cheesecake. Perfect! Well done.
Have a nice day. Michael.

Juliana said...

Oh Mary, what a nice cheesecake...margarita :-) And like you I am very stubborn too...like to get it right ;-)

Karen said...

I would have forgotten about the cheesecake and hit the tequila ;) I like the texture of your cheesecake - not too wet/creamy.

Lorie said...

Oh Lordy. This looks fantastic. I want this for Mother's Day.

Becky said...

Mary, your cheesecake looks divine. Thank you for persevering. I believe i will be trying your recipe. And congratulations on it being listed as Recipe of the Day on FoodBlogs.

Carolyn Jung said...

A good margarita always causes a lot of cussing, if it be liquid or in cheesecake form. LOL
This looks spectacular. Bravo on all your hard work on it.

Adele Forbes said...

Well that has made me weak in my knees...wow..can't wait to make it. Thank you so much for sharing and the photography is awesome as well.

Alissa said...

Glad I stumbled upon your blog! This looks delicious. I love your photos btw!

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