recipe: beet and chevre cheesecake

I have to preface this post with a disclaimer:

I am not a baker.

I repeat, I am not a baker.

You want to know why that is? Because I’m impatient, simply put. I would rather pay someone else to bake dessert or a pastry so all I have to do is go to the store and pay for said goodness. That would take me, what, like 10 minutes? As opposed to possibly 30 minutes to an hour? Instant gratification.

I know, I know, it’s not a good excuse but there you have it. My lack of baking also can be a good thing – because I’m impatient, I don’t bake often. Because I don’t bake often, I don’t eat desserts that I would have made otherwise. This is a very good thing. (Not that I don’t indulge every so often. I’m only human!)

Anyways, every so often I do get the hankering to bake. Biscotti? Mmm-hmmm. Store-bought chocolate chip cookie dough? I better bake it fast before I eat the dough itself. Thumb-print cookies? I love it. Well, on a recent trip to Ikea, I saw a tart pan & springform pan package, on sale. Cheap price so I figured, why not? A little spontaneous shopping won’t hurt my wallet. And since I now owned a springform pan, there was no turning back. Cheesecake it is. Beet & chevre cheesecake, to be exact.

Thanks to my life-long friend Sara (we’ve known each other since second grade), I was inspired. She has this amazing blog called Nomad With Cookies, which you should definitely check out. One of her recipes is beet & chevre cheesecake. When I first saw it, I was apprehensive. Beets? Beets in cheesecake? At that point, I had never eaten a beet in my life! Fast-forward to months and months later, I was finally introduced to beets – beet brownies made by my friend Mary and roasted beets during dinner one night when we were in Seattle visiting family. I was now getting acquainted with the beet.

(trying to be friendly with the beets)

Going into this baking adventure, I had Sara’s support and vote of confidence (plus she was able to quickly answer my questions via Facebook). I was glad for that! I had never made a cheesecake in my life, let alone one that involved beets. Both the husband and I were nervous. But, I’m always up for a challenge and I’m so glad I did this. Not only did the cheesecake look nice (okay, nice for a newbie), it tasted delicious! Within 48 hours, my husband and I had consumed half the cheesecake. What to take away from all of this (and my long-windedness)? Don’t be afraid of the beet.

Beet & Chevre Cheesecake (from Nomad With Cookies)

Ingredients

CRUST

• 20 1/2 graham cracker squares, ground
• 5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tbsp sugar
• extra butter for greasing the springform pan

BATTER

• 3 regular sized beets) to equal 1 cup puree
• 16 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 8 oz chevre (goat cheese), room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Wrap beets in foil and roast (middle rack) in oven for 45-60 minutes, until soft. Let cool until it can be handled. Once the beets are cooled, peel and puree in food processor. Add 1 tbsp of water at a time if needed a smoother consistency.

2. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 8 inch spring form pan with butter. Combine ground-up graham crackers with sugar and melted butter. Press the cracker mixture on to the spring form pan, the bottom and the sides (just 1 inch up all around). Bake for 5 minutes, then cool.

3. In a bowl, mix both cheeses and sugar on medium speed with a hand mixer. Add 1 egg at a time, until blended with everything. Then add 1 cup beet puree to mixture and stir well. Pour batter into crust and bake for 45 to 50 minutes until firm around the edges (with a slight jiggle in the middle of the cheesecake). Let cool for 5 minutes, then run a paring knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cheesecake.

4. Let cheesecake cool to room temperature then put in fridge for 4 hours or overnight.

(note: next time I make this – and there will BE a next time – I will make sure the beets are really soft so that I actually create a puree instead of just processing the beets into a million tiny pieces. Hence the dots you see on the cheesecake.)

AMAZING! This cheesecake was amazing. It did take me a while to make everything because I’m slow like that but it was well worth it. My husband and I couldn’t wait – we dove right in and took a little slice while the cheesecake was still warm. And you know what? Warm cheesecake is as good as cold cheesecake. And this cheesecake . . . I’ve fallen in love.

Beets, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.