Cookie Crust Cheesecake with Persimmon Glaze. It's What's For Breakfast.

Are you sitting down? Breaking news! Your Mommyblog/Recipe Hub has baked a cheesecake: Cookie Crust Cheesecake, with a sweet persimmon glaze!

I get a psychic tingle when something has fallen off a truck. So I go to the mafia grocery store, because that is what the tingle means. I get there and swarms of nonnas were all over a box of almost-mushy persimmons. Persimmons!

Plain cheesecake is a great idea most of the time, because a well-made cheesecake doesn’t need a lot of flash. It needs to be itself . On the other hand, when a persimmon opportunity arises in the month of November, it would be silly to let it slide. Your Recipe Hub seizes the day.

Our very amazing cheesecake requires the following tools:

10” Springform cake pan

Food processor or blender

Stand mixer or hand mixer

18” foil

Large roasting pan

8 cups of boiling water

We are leaving the graham cracker crust behind for a smooth cookie crust. This is a butter and sugar basin for cheesecake filling. Use brown sugar, when possible -- it tastes better! The recipe is at the end of this article for you to print, clip and save.

Cheesecake Filling

4 bricks of cream cheese, room temperature and cut into cubes

1 1/3 c. white sugar

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Pinch or so of salt

4 eggs

2/3 c. sour cream

2/3 c. heavy whipping cream

Prepare the cookie crust and press into a springform pan, about a half-inch high on the sides.

Heat the oven to 350º. Place the oven rack at the lower third of your oven. Our cheesecake is going to cook in a water bath, so I covered the outside of my pan with foil to create a barrier. Foil will prevent water from seeping into the springform pan and ruining everything. Cover your pan with foil, even if it claims to be “leak proof.”

Tear off two sheets of foil, about 18”x18”. Set the pan in the center of one sheet, and form it over the outside of the pan, crimping the edges at the top. Be careful not to dent or rip the foil, and make sure none of the creases are too low. After you have put the first sheet of foil around the pan, do the same thing with a second sheet (as flood insurance). Nervous? Do a third sheet. Make it right; keep your basement cookie crust dry.

Bring 8 cups of water to a boil, while you prepare the cheesecake filling.

Blend cream cheese until fluffy, then add sugar. Mix well, then adding vanilla and salt. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and then add eggs, one at a time, mixing for about a minute between the addition of each egg. Add sour cream, blend, and finish with heavy whipping cream. Scrape the sides of the bowl again, careful to incorporate any bits you might have missed.

Pre-bake the cookie crust for 10-15 minutes, remove from the oven and reduce the heat to 325º.

Place the pan inside of a large roasting pan, off center. Add the filling, and smooth down the top. Put this in the oven, and carefully pour in boiling water into the roasting pan. Be careful not to drench the springform pan or filling. Water should level off at (about) the middle of the springform pan.

Bake for one and a half hours. When the time is up, turn off the oven and crack door slightly. Allow the cheesecake to cool inside of the oven for at least an hour. This will reduce cracking. Cheesecakes are notorious for cracking on top, and this will not do! Remove the roasting pan from the oven, take out the cheesecake, and discard the water. Feel free to inspect your crust for done-ness by carefully removing the springform ring. If your crust looks under-baked, replace the ring, cover the top of the pan with foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes or so, without the water bath.

Cover your cheesecake and refrigerate for at least four hours before attacking it with a knife and eating every last crumb.

Persimmon Glaze

2-3 persimmons, peeled and cubed

1 tsp. lemon juice

2 tsp. cornstarch

2-4 tsp. sugar, to taste

Puree the persimmons until smooth. In a small saucepan, combine cornstarch and flour. Add the puree, heat on medium-high, and whisk continuously for about five minutes. When this comes to a boil and thickens, remove from heat. Allow this to chill, until you are ready to top the cooled cheesecake.

I made this for you. Please enjoy!