Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Birthdays are a big deal in our house, and I use the word “our” broadly – our mom and her siblings made all of the kids feel special on our birthdays. The person having the birthday picks the menu beginning to end, most importantly choosing their birthday dessert. When I was a kid my mom called this “jello”, pretending it wasn’t going to be exactly what we’d been dreaming about.

Crust:

• 12 graham cracker cookies (the whole sheet)
• 1/4 cup sugar – you could use brown, I used white this time
• 90 grams of soft butter – about six tablespoons, I used my scale

Pulse the cookies and sugar in a food processor, or put them in a large ziploc bag and bash into crumbs. Mix in the butter to make the consistency of wet sand.

Press into a springform pan, this is enough for a 10″ springform but you can use a smaller pan, you just might not need all the crumbs. Press into the pan and up the sides, don’t worry if it’s a little crumbly, it will bake together.

Bake in a 350 F oven for 10-12 minutes, just enough to set it.

Filling:

• 2 packages cream cheese, not light, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 cup smooth peanut butter, not light
• 3 eggs, at room temperature

I used my food processor for this step, just wiping it out with a dry paper towel after making the crust. Blend the cream cheese and sugar until well blended, add the peanut butter and blend until the colour is even. Add the eggs next, one at a time – I use the chute of the food processor so I can keep it running. Stop as soon as the eggs are incorporated, don’t overmix.

Pour the filling into the crust. Set the springform pan in a large piece of foil, and then set both into a large roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with hot water about half way up the springform pan. Set everything in a 325 F oven and bake for 30-40 minutes – watch it carefully, this time my cake was set in 30 minutes. The top will get a little toasty, just give the pan a jiggle and if the cake doesn’t jiggle too, it’s done!

Toppings:

I melted chocolate chips and stirred in a little heavy cream. I used a piping bag to drizzle the chocolate over the cake. I could have chopped fresh peanuts over the top too – maybe next time! We cut this into 16 small pieces and served butter tarts as well so that it was a satisfying dessert course for our dinner party of 14 people.