Gingerbread Swirl Cheesecake
This Gingerbread Swirl Cheesecake is a fun and festive holiday dessert…just make sure to save a slice for Santa!
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Lately every time I’ve opened up an internet browser, I’ve been seeing ads for dog poop bags. Now I read a lot about food. I love looking at amazing photos of food. I really enjoy reading recipes. I just like food. But if there’s one thing that doesn’t go well with food, it’s dog poop bags.
There is a good explanation for ads for the dog poop bags. You see, we adopted two puppies back in the late Spring. We also have a 5-year-old Robbie. Like most kids, Robbie loves to play in the backyard. Our puppies also love to play in the backyard. And, yup, you guessed it, our puppies also like to poop in the backyard. In an effort to keep the yard clean, we’ve been going through quite a few doggie poop bags. I was googling the cheapest source the other day, and that’s all it took. Now for the next 2-3 weeks, I’m destined to see ads for dog poop bags…right next to photos of delicious food. Ugh.
Gingerbread Swirl Cheesecake
Gingerbread Swirl CheesecakeLeaving that topic behind, let’s switch to something much more exciting. How about this Gingerbread Swirl Cheesecake? I’ve been on a real gingerbread kick lately, but can you blame me? It’s the holiday season, and gingerbread is one of my favorite holiday flavors! From snowball cookies to bran muffins and now this Gingerbread Swirl Cheesecake, I’m definitely getting my gingerbread fill this year.
While gingerbread originated as an actual bread, it has transitioned over the years to a cookie and now just a general flavor. (I’m not gonna lie – I love a splash of gingerbread coffee creamer in my coffee on a cold December morning!) The iconic gingerbread flavor comes from a mix of molasses and a handful of spices – most notably ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. I used those flavors as inspiration for this delicious Gingerbread Swirl Cheesecake. And when I say delicious, I mean delicious!
Truthfully, this cheesecake is rather easy to make. It sounds festive, and it looks pretty cool, too. But in the end, it’s still pretty simple to make. I just used my go-to cheesecake recipe, but I removed a couple cups of batter and added in the gingerbread ingredients. Then that gingerbread batter gets swirled with the plain batter and *boom* Gingerbread Swirl Cheesecake. And *poof* this cheesecake will probably disappear about that quickly.
As we head into the final weeks of the year, I hope you enjoy the season with your friends and family. And I hope Santa brings you everything on your list! For me, I’m just hoping for another slice of this cheesecake. Happy Holidays!
Did you bake this Gingerbread Swirl Cheesecake at home? Leave a comment, or better yet snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog). Happy baking!
Gingerbread Swirl Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the Gingersnap Crust
- 1¾ cups gingersnap crumbs ~30-35 gingersnap cookies
- 3 Tbsp light brown sugar
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
For the Cheesecake
- 32 oz. cream cheese room temperature
- 1¼ cups granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 4 whole eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp molasses
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
For the Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- gingersnaps or gingerbread men for garnishing
Instructions
For the Gingersnap Crust
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a food processor or mini-chopper, pulse the gingersnaps until finely ground. In a medium bowl, add the gingersnap crumbs, brown sugar, ginger and melted butter; stir until well combined.
- Lightly butter or grease a 9” springform pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment paper. Press the crust mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan. (Tip: A flat-bottomed glass helps pack the crust mixture down evenly.)
- Bake crust for 10 minutes; remove from oven and let cool.
- Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.
For the Cheesecake
- Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until completely smooth (~3 minutes).
- Add the sugar and flour; mix until well combined.
- Using a small bowl, add eggs and egg yolks; whisk until well combined. Add eggs to the bowl with the cream cheese in 2 additions, mixing fully after each addition.
- Add the sour cream and vanilla; mix until well combined. (Tip: Use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure the filling is fully mixed.)
- Remove 2 cups of batter and combine with the molasses, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
- Pour vanilla batter into the cooled crust. Pour gingerbread batter on top. Using a table knife, gently swirl the pumpkin batter into the vanilla batter.
- Wrap the bottom of the pan with a piece of aluminum foil and place in a large baking pan. Fill pan with about ½”-¾” of water. Bake at 325°F until center of cake is just barely set (about 80-90 minutes). (Tip: Pull the cheesecake out of the oven when there is about 1" ring of "looser" filling left in the center of the cake.)
- Remove cake from oven and cool for 10 min. Wrap entire pan in plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
- The next day, remove the cake from the freezer and release the springform pan. Transfer the cake to a serving platter and defrost in a refrigerator for 4-5 hours.
For the Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream
- Combine all ingredients in small bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat until stiff peaks form.
- Using an offset spatula, spread a thin layer of whipped cream across top of cheesecake before serving.
- Garnish top of cake with crumbled gingersnaps.
Looking for other tasty gingerbread recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
How fun to have a couple of puppies! But, ugh, the mess they can make! Hopefully they aren’t in a chewing stage! I can enjoy gingerbread cookies all year long and this cheesecake looks so yummy! It’s definitely perfect for the holidays. This would be a hit with my family!
Haha – it has been an adventure with the two puppies this year. They’ve more or less made it through the puppy chewing stage. The only casualties were a couple of Robbie’s “bad guys” action figures. In the grand scheme, I’m ok with that.
In other news, this gingerbread cheesecake is awesome! I love gingerbread flavors and combining them with cheesecake made for a really fun holiday treat. 🙂 Thanks, Kathy!
Oh those ads, I get it. But wait for my story. A few years ago, I was googling men’s skincare products before my birthday, and you know what happened next? I was destined to see lots of ads of skincare products for men. That’s fine. Though the fact they were showing me products for 40+ and 50+ men wasn’t fine. Because I didn’t even turn 35 at that point! Then YouTube suggested me a video on “How to age gracefully for gentleman” Lol That entire story was so rude, don’t you think so? I should have sued Google and YouTube for their insinuations haha.
Anyway, this gingerbread cheesecake is everything. I love that you’ve incorporated a gingerbread swirl – it’s always great to have flavour contrasts in one dessert. Excellent!
Haha! That story is a good one indeed, Ben – sometimes google is just too smart for its own good. I totally understand how it works – but sometimes it’s just a bit too much for me!
Hope you guys have a very Merry Christmas season up there!
Too funny about the DP bags! Some ads should never be shown on food blogs, right? It reminds me of having perfume ads in cooking magazines – not a good combo.
But this gingerbread swirl cheesecake is certainly a good combo – an excellent one really! And I love the look of the upright cookie finisher – makes the slice that much more mouthwatering.
Yeah I’m with ya, Marissa! Perfume ads in a cooking magazine is another one – no one needs that.
But what I do need is another slice of this gingerbread swirl cheesecake! 🙂 Thanks so much, my friend. I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season so far!
this sounds spicy and swirly and cheesy – all good things!
Oh, it’s a good one for sure, Sherry! Can’t ever go wrong with a good cheesecake, and the gingerbread swirl takes it to a new level!
I can’t believe I’ve never make a gingerbread cheesecake. Well at least I’ve got this delicious recipe now to rectify that! Thanks David and Merry Christmas to you and your family when it comes!
What!? Well consider this your challenge to make gingerbread cheesecake, Neil. It’s perfect for the holiday season!
This is an interesting flavour for a cheesecake, never thought of combining these two together. Very festive
Gingerbread is one of my favorite holiday flavors, Raymund – so it only makes sense to include it in cheesecake, too, right?? Happy Holidays!
I’d be thrilled for Santa to leave me a slice (or 4) of this cheesecake, David! It looks gorgeous and sounds so tasty. I’ve been in a major gingerbread way, too! I can’t get enough! This looks like the perfect ending to a Christmas dinner. Especially after you’ve opened all those poop bags Santa is bound to bring you! Ha! We have a big dog, so I totally understand the issues with the bags! Love this recipe, though!
You and me both, Laura! How cool would it be to wake up and find a cheesecake that Santa left for us? 🙂 I love gingerbread flavors, so I’m surprised it took me this long to combine gingerbread and cheesecake together! Either way, happy holidays, my friend!