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Monday, November 14, 2011

Baked Banana Cheesecake


Everyone loves pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, but it's also nice to have a little something different for such a special dinner.  This Baked Banana Cheesecake can be made one day ahead and your dessert will be ready for the big day.



This cheesecake has a creamy, intensely flavored filling on an elegant macadamia nut crust. The key to a smooth cheesecake is to make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature before blending. Cold cream cheese will result in a lumpy batter. Baking the bananas brings out a deep flavor of caramelized sweetness. Be sure to include the liquid from the baked bananas in the cheesecake batter.  Enjoy!

Crust

1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) Vanilla Wafers, finely crushed
1/2 cup Macadamia Nuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/3 cup Unsalted Butter, melted

Filling

3 ripe Bananas, unpeeled
3 8-ounce packages Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup Sugar
5 Large Eggs
1 TB Dark Rum
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 400 and set oven rack at the lower-middle level. Have ready a 10-inch springform pan.

Baking the Bananas: Place the unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet and roast until they turn black all over, about 12 - 15 minutes. Remove from the sheet and set aside to cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350.

Assemble the Crust: Combine cookie crumbs, macadamia nuts and brown sugar in a food processor. Pulse a few times until mixture is finely ground. Pour crumb mixture into springform pan. Pour melted butter into center of crumbs and blend well with a fork, pressing the mixture evenly into the bottom of the entire pan.

Prepare Filling: With an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl, scraping down the sides a few times. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Break the cooled baked bananas into pieces and add them to the bowl making sure to include the juice from the bananas. Add the rum and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared crust, smooth the top and place the pan on a baking sheet. Bake for about 1 hour or until the cheesecake is a light golden brown and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Cool the cheesecake to room temperature on a wire rack, then cover and chill overnight before serving. Serve with a scoop of whipped topping and chocolate shavings, if desired.

2 comments:

  1. HI Mary! If I don't want to put rum can I leave it out altogether or what can I substitute it with? :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. You can easily substitute the rum with an equal amount of another liquid. Try a flavored coffee syrup such as Torani or even orange or pineapple juice. Any of these will change the flavor slightly but the results will be delicious! Enjoy and thanks for visiting!

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