Triple Ginger Cheesecake

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice

One of my favorite memories from childhood are snacking on Trader Joe's Triple Ginger cookies with a glass of milk at night. These cookies are not too sugary and surprises you with chewy bits of ginger in every bite. This recipe is not only an ode to my favorite cookie, but all things ginger. 

For this recipe, there is no baking involved. I love whipped cheesecake and any recipe that involves tempering, so it is a no bake cake (aside from heating the crust).  I would recommend a seven inch springform pan, which has a removable bottom. If you do use a nine inch one, I would definitely add another box or two cups of cookie crust. I do place wax paper on the sides so that it is easier to pull out. 

The flavor of fresh ginger adds a nice kick without being too potent. Powdered ginger is fine, but you will taste the spice better with fresh ginger. I did use a generic non-fat yogurt but definitely go for greek yogurt if you can. It's a lot smoother and produces less lumps when mixing. 

Ingredients:

Crust:

2 cups of ginger cookies

1/8 teaspoons cinnamon

1/8 teaspoons nutmeg

8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)

Ginger Batter: 

16 oz (2 packages) cream cheese

1 cup fat free yogurt (preferably greek yogurt)

4 egg yolks

1 tablespoon fresh ginger

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Crust Instructions:

1. For the crust, set oven to 350 F (175C). Place cookies in food processor or blender. Once the cookies are processed into crumbs, transfer to a bowl.

2. Melt the butter and then add to the bowl of crushed cookies mixing until the crumbs turn into dark clumps. That's when it is ready to lay in a pan Once the pan is set, place in the oven for the next 10 minutes. 

Ginger Batter Instructions:

1. Set a pot of water to boil and have a metal bowl ready that can fit on top of the pot. Take the four egg yolks and place it in the metal bowl. When the water comes to a boil, turn off the stove and use an electric mixer to blend the bowl of eggs on top of the heat of the water. When the yolk is fluffy and a creamier color, it is ready. 

Here is where we temper the eggs. You can decide if you want to add the sugar here or later. I added it later. Here is an ole insta highlight of how I temper eggs for hollandaise sauce. 

2. Once the yolks are done, set aside and in a separate bowl, place the cream cheese and yogurt. Blend both until very little lumps.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients including the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and fresh ginger. Continue blending until smooth. 

4. Once your batter is ready, fill the pan of crust with the remaining batter and then place in the fridge for the next 8-12 hours.  

Once your cheesecake is ready, you can remove the latch and carefully take off the wax paper. The cheesecake will be solid but on the creamy side.

I decided to top it off with a mixture of sesame cracker and ginger to give a balance to all the sugar. I did not really know what to put on top. You can top it off with fresh ginger, ginger candy, or dark chocolate; whatever you prefer. 

After you are done, put it on display as your friends and family salivate. Leave your comments on what you topped it off with below.