A craving for cheesecake

I haven’t been baking a lot lately, but I suddenly developed this terrible NEED for cheesecake, you know how it is. So I made this:

White Chocolate – Coconut Cheesecake

1 crumb crust (I just combine 1 1/2 C or so of very fine vanilla wafer crumbs and enough butter to make it stick together, say about 5 Tbsp)

5 pkg cream cheese (the 8-oz size, of course)

1 C sugar

1 1/2 C white chocolate chips or white chocolate bars, broken up, melted, and cooled slightly. I used Ghirardelli bars, I think.

4 eggs

3/4 C coconut milk (shake the can hard before you open it.

2 tsp coconut extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 C flaked coconut, toasted.

Make the crust, press into a 10-inch Springform pan, and bake at 350 for ten minutes. While the oven is hot, toast the coconut. It will only take about two or three minutes to toast the coconut. Plan to stir once in the middle.

Soften the cream cheese in the microwave. Add the sugar and beat until smooth. Beat in the white chocolate. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the coconut milk and extracts. Stir in half the toasted coconut. Pour into prepared crust. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, turn the heat down to 300 degrees, rotate the cheesecake (assuming your oven does not heat quite evenly), and bake another 15-20 minutes, until it looks set but still jiggles slightly in the center when you gently shake the pan.

Cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Run a knife along the edge to loosen the cheesecake from the rim, but do not remove the rim. Cool, then place in the fridge over night (or for at least six hours; if you make the cheesecake early in the morning, it will certainly be ready by dinnertime.

Sprinkle with the rest of the coconut before serving.

Now, if I were making this again, I would be SO TEMPTED to remove a cup or more of the batter, stir in melted dark chocolate, and swirl it in to the white chocolate base. But I didn’t this time around. Next time, though. And if I did that, btw, I’d also make a chocolate crumb crust, which is just the same only you add 1/4 C of cocoa powder and 1/4 C of powdered sugar to the crumbs when making the crust.

Anyway, this was a good cheesecake, just as easy as any other cheesecake, so if you don’t have a springform pan, you should totally pick one up and start making your own cheesecakes. Wonderful for potlucks, too.