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Rhubarb Swirled Cheesecake

Creamy dreamy vanilla cheesecake sweetened with cinnamon and swirled with a bright, tart rhubarb coulis on a bed of graham cracker crust.
Servings 16 bars

Ingredients

Rhubarb Swirl

  • Use as much or as little of this as you want, depending on how much swirl you want in the cheesecake.
  • 400g rhubarb chopped about 3 large stalks, weighed after stems and leaves removed
  • 120g fine granulated sugar about ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons
  • 1 ½ tablespoons tapioca starch or cornstarch
  • Pinch fine sea salt

Graham Cracker Crust

  • 250g or 2 packed cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 85g or 6 tablespoons butter unsalted or salted
  • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional

Cheesecake Filling

  • 452g or 2 bricks cream cheese at room temperature
  • 100g or ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 120g or ½ cup labne or sour cream preferably at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature (set them in a bowl of hot water to warm)

Instructions

Make the Rhubarb Coulis for the Swirl

  • Remove the leaves (any green part) from the rhubarb and chop into 1 inch pieces. Set a pot over medium low heat and to it add the rhubarb, sugar, starch, and salt).
  • Cook slowly, stirring occasionally to ensure the rhubarb doesn't burn at the bottom of the pan. As it cooks the rhubarb will break down, once it’s very soft puree the mix (you can do this with an immersion blender right in the pot or transfer to a food processor or blender). Press the puree through a fine mesh sieve, take your time doing this and squeezing out all the fruit while leaving the stringy bits behind. Add a dash of vanilla if you like. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for at least a few hours before using but up to a week.

Make the Crust

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F. Use parchment paper to cover the bottom and sides of a 9 inch or 8 inch square pan. If using an 8 inch pan, the crust will be nice and thick. Eight inch pans will fit into a 9x13 cake pan for the water bath whereas 9 inch pans will need something larger.
  • Grind the cookies into fine crumbs and melt the butter. Stir the crumbs, butter, a pinch of salt, the cinnamon if using, and the powdered sugar together until the mix is like wet sand. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan and up the sides (if using a square pan it’s not as essential to get it up the sides, I skipped this and just made it one layer).
  • Bake the crust for 12 minutes. While it’s baking, make the filling.

Make the filling

  • Set the warm, room temperature cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer. Use a rubber spatula to press it into the bottom and sides of the bowl to remove lumps. Affix the paddle attachment and turn the machine on its lowest setting to gently cream the cheese. Scrape the bowl down as needed and mix until the cream cheese is smooth.
  • Add the labne/sour cream, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon if using, and fine sea salt and turn the mixer on low again. Mix for about 5 minutes, until the batter is smooth. Scrape down as needed.
  • With the mixer on, add the eggs and mix to just combine; about two minutes. Scrape the bowl’s sides and especially the bottom to ensure everything is well mixed.
  • Pour half of the cheesecake batter into the pan. Dollop the rhubarb sauce (in 2-3 tablespoons) all over the cheesecake. Gently shimmy the pan on the counter so the filling evens out. Pour the rest of the cheesecake filling, do it in dollops so that you’re able to cover the rhubarb. Dollop more rhubarb sauce on top. Use a chopstick to gently swirl the rhubarb and cheesecake batter, 2-3 full swirls should do it - don’t overdo the swirling.
  • Set the pan in a larger cake pan and fill the larger pan halfway with water. Turn the oven down to 325 F and bake the cheesecake in its water bath until the middle jiggles just a bit when you wiggle the pan - about 45-50 minutes. *If you don't have a bigger pan to turn into a water bath, set a pan with water on the rack underneath the cheesecake - this isn’t ideal but will work in a pinch, please note that the cheesecake will likely cook faster if not submerged in the bath.
  • Turn off the oven and leave the oven door open so the cheesecake can begin to cool. After about 15 minutes, take it out (still in its water bath) and leave it on the counter. When the cheesecake is cool enough to lift out of the bath, set it on the counter to cool fully then transfer to the fridge. Chill overnight, or at least for 8 hours.
  • Store the cheesecake in the fridge, it’ll keep for about 5 days.

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