I am Irish, and love celebrating St. Patrick's Day! This cheesecake recipe comes from Kraft Foods, and I think the best part of it is the Irish cream Liqueur.....the flavor comes out even stronger after a day in the refrigerator...yum!
Ingredients You'll Need:
1-1/2 cups finely chopped PLANTERS Pecans
2 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, meltedCappuccin
4 pkg. (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. flour
1 cup Sour Cream
1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur
4 eggs
PREHEAT oven to 325°F if using a silver 9-inch springform pan (or to 300°F if using a dark nonstick 9-inch springform pan). Mix pecans, 2 Tbsp. sugar and the butter; press firmly onto bottom of pan. Bake 10 min.
BEAT cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and the flour in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add sour cream and liqueur; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.
BAKE 1 hour 5 min. or until center is almost set. Run small knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.
Baking Tip* To help keep the top from cracking, place a glass pie dish filled with water on the oven rack below the cheesecake while baking.
To make the shamrock decoration, sprinkle green colored sugar over a clover-shaped template placed on top of chilled cheesecake to resemble a shamrock.
Also--if you do not want to use the liquer, try using 1 Tbsp. Instant Coffee and 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon dissolved in 1/4 cup boiling water for a 'Cappuccino Cheesecake".