Cherry Swirl Cheesecake

Cherry Swirl Cheesecake

Most recipes are variations on a theme. This one is no exception, I've seen it in a cookbook over seventy years old. Believe it was called ‘Cherry Cheesecake Delight’. I found this one on the back of a can of pie filling, but it’s the same recipe. Oh, I have a couple adjustments I’ll tell you about too. In any case, it’s good, it’s rich, and it’ll bust your calorie intake to pieces, so enjoy (just not too much…) 

Ingredients-

¼ Cup Butter, melted     

1Cup Graham Cracker crumbs

3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

¾ Cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs

1 21-ounce can Cherry Pie filling

Whipped Topping (for serving)

Directions-

Preheat oven to 350 F. 

Combine melted butter and graham cracker crumbs.

Press into bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan.

Bake this for ten minutes.

Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until smooth and fluffy…about three minutes.

Add vanilla and eggs and beat just until smooth…about one minute.

Pour into crust.

Spoon ½ Cup pie filling onto cheesecake and use a knife to swirl filling into batter.

Bake 45 to 50 minutes until set.

Cool completely and refrigerate at least four hours.

Slice and serve topped with additional pie filling and whipped topping.

My variations-

First off, I don’t believe this recipe will fit into a normal pie pan. I used 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs with ¾ stick of butter and put the thing in a 9X13 Cake Pan and the crust was a mite sparse. 

Next time I make it, I'll use a full stick of butter (½ Cup), and about 8 ounces (by weight) of graham cracker crumbs. Bear in mind my crackers came in waxed paper packages of around 4-ounces each, so it will just be two packages to reduce to crumbs.

As for cream cheese, I opted for four 8-ounce packages to fill the cake pan and put in one additional egg. It was easy math since the recipe calls for one egg per package of the cream cheese. 

I will also use two 21-ounce cans of pie filling. On my first try, I used a single, 30-ounce can and ran out of pie filling for topping.

Oh, once the cheesecake cooled, I spread the remaining pie filling across the top. Works good.

Enjoy!