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Gastronomy

Cheesecake de Cocona / Cocona Cheesecake

Average

By Melanie Bayly

Ingredients

Crust:
1 1/2 cups vanilla cookies
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cheesecake Filling:
4 - 8oz. Packages of softened cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups cocona puree
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Grated zest of one lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (optional)
Apricot Marmalade

Preparation

For the crust:
Place the crumbs in a small bowl and add sugar, cinnamon and butter, mixing to combine. Press the mixture into the bottom of a pan. Bake at 350 ºC until the crust is golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool while you prepare the filling.

For the filling:
Beat the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the cocona puree and mix just until smooth. Then add the cornstarch, cinnamon, lemon zest, salt and ginger. Then add the eggs one at a time.

Pour the filling into the pan and transfer it to the oven. Bake at 350ºC for about 50 minutes, then turn off the oven and let the cheesecake sit in the oven for 2 more hours. Do not open the oven while baking or cooling, or you run the risk of cracking and deflating the cheesecake. After the 2-hour cooling period, remove the pan from the oven and let the cheesecake cool completely at room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 8 hours before serving.

I usually serve it with apricot marmalade, but you can use chocolate whipped cream if you wish.

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