Blueberry Cheesecake

Recipe provided courtesy of Taste of Home magazine.  Find more great recipes at

www.tasteofhome.com

Savor the best of the blues with this crowd-pleasing blueberry cheesecake.  “Dick and I became highly desired members of a supper club group in anticipation of his contributions,” notes his wife, Sybil.

           Dick Deacon                                                                Lawrenceville, Georgia

Blueberry Cheesecake Recipe

Blueberry Cheesecake

40 vanilla wafers, crushed

1 cup finely chopped pecans

1/3 cup butter, melted

Filling:   2 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

½ cup butter, softened

1 ½ cups sugar

4 cups (16 oz.) 4% cottage cheese

2 cups (16 oz.) sour cream

6 Tbsp. cornstarch

6 Tbsp. flour

4 ½ tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla

4 eggs, lightly beaten

Blueberry Glaze:   3 ½ cups blueberries, divided

1 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

Edible pansies or violas and fresh mint leaves, optional

In a large bowl, combine the wafer crumbs, pecans and butter.  Press onto the bottom and 2 inches up the sides of greased 10 inch springform pan.  Place on a baking sheet.  Bake at 375 F. for 8 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.  Reduce to 325 F.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and sugar until smooth.  Process cottage cheese in a blender until smooth; beat into a cream cheese mixture.  Beat in the sour cream, cornstarch, flour, lemon juice and vanilla.  Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined.  Pour over crust.

Return pan to baking sheet.  Bake at 325 F. for 70-80 minutes or until center is almost set.  Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer.  Refrigerate overnight.

For glaze, puree 2 1/2blueberries in a food processor; press through a fine mesh sieve, reserving 1 cup juice.  Discard pulp and seeds.

In a small saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and reserved blueberry juice until smooth.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.  Refrigerate until completely cooled.

Remove sides of pan.  Spread glaze over cheesecake.  Sprinkle with blueberries; garnish with pansies or violas and mint if desired.  Refrigerate leftovers.                 14-16 servings

(Recipe for Blueberry Cheesecake was in tasteofhome.com)