Christmas Cake – my Christmas Variation of Cheesecake

OTHER LANGUAGES: German

In my kitchen today I will show you my special Christmas Cake recipe. Based on cheesecake this is an elegant Christmas cake in a modern way.

Today I have one wish free and… through trial and error and long consideration I have come to this fantastic result: The fulfillment of three wishes instead of just one.

First: A Christmas cake thanks to speculoos and a Christmas cherry with cinnamon. – Secondly, a reminder of my favourite dessert, crème brûlée. – Three, my absolute favorite, cheesecake.

So I can enjoy Christmas, because what has been baked with love and inspiration not only delights my palate, but also opens my heart ♥

I wish you much joy in baking and good luck!

I show you the wonderful original cheesecake recipe from New York in another article. © Food photographer Thomas Sixt

1. The Preparation for the Cake

Our Christmas cake is baked as a cheesecake in a water bath. It’s the only way to make it perfect!

So we enter the race with a 28cm springform pan, a deep oven tray, aluminium foil and 1/2 l water.

Baking tray in the oven with cake tin while pouring water.

We coat our closed springform pan well and luxuriantly at the bottom edge with aluminium foil. Water must not penetrate! As a clever baking fox, I crimp a forearm length of foil and place it on the deep oven tray as a cake tray base. I do not feel like having a cake foot bath.

I adjust my filled springform pan on the aluminium foil in the baking tray according to my eyes. For this I don’t need a spirit level 🙂

Then I preheat my oven at 180° C.

I don’t want to pour the water into the deep oven tray until my springform pan is completely filled. Therefore we take the next steps…

2. Preparation Cake Base

Here’s some great news for you: Preparing the cake base is a breeze!

All you need is speculoos, some butter and salt.

The speculoos are best finely chopped. This works well with a mortar or a food processor that can do this. Add the butter in liquid form and add a pinch of salt.

Pour everything into the greased springform pan and press it flat on the bottom. You are already through 🙂

Crush the biscuits for the cake base.

3. Prepare Filling for Christmas Cake

Now comes the next step in our baking pleasure: The delicious cheesecake filling.

So here… What do we need:

• Cream cheese (please, I do not want to advertise… but only Philadelphia will do)
• Then you need sugar, starch, a good portion of vanilla extract (liquid extract – no powder!), eggs, lemon rub and juice and cream.

Mix everything finely with a hand mixer. Then it can be poured into the mould to form the base.

Pour the mixed filling into the cake tin.

4. Baking and Waiting Time

Now we need heavenly patience: Baking in a water bath only works at a low temperature in the oven (approx. 120-140° ‘C’ top/bottom heat). That is why it takes a good 90 minutes.

Afterwards the kitchen cools down and has to be put in the fridge for about 6 hours.

5. Caramelize Christmas Cake

All the time I am looking forward to this part of our baking story: the caramelisation of the cheesecake after baking and cooling down.

Now, once again in order of repetition:

• the Christmas cheesecake is baked
• the Christmas cake cools down
• put the Christmas cake in the fridge for at least 6 hours
• the cake is lightly sprinkled with brown sugar
• the cake is caramelised with a Crème Brûlée burner

Caramelise the cake pieces with sugar.

6. Prepare Cherry Garnish

I love this combination of a sweet, creamy cake and a fruity side dish.

I find cherries with cinnamon to it fine and Christmassy. Of course my cherries come across a little thickened like a sauce with lots of cherries in it. This is simply rounder and more beautiful in taste.

Cherries mixed with cinnamon and boiled cherry juice as a fruity Christmas cake side dish.

So beautifully arranged our great Christmas cake becomes an eye-catcher…

Christmas cake arranged with cherries and caramel crust

7. Recipe Christmas Cake

For your Christmas bakery I will now show you the recipe with all steps and pictures. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me using the comment function at the bottom of the page.

Print Recipe

5 from 11 votes

Christmas Cake

Prepare Christmas cake step by step with the instructions of cooking professional Thomas Sixt.

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time1 hr 30 mins

Total Time2 hrs

Course: Nachtisch & Desserts

Cuisine: Amerikanische Küche

Keyword: Glutenfreie Rezepte

Servings: 8 Persons

Calories: 971kcal

Author: Thomas Sixt

Ingredients

Kuchen-Boden

• 220 g speculoos finely crushed
• 1 pinch salt I use primal salt or Himalayan salt
• 75 g butter melted

Kuchen-Füllung

• 900 g cream cheese I take original Philadelphia
• 300 g sugar fine brown sugar
• 30 g starch
• 2 tsp vanilla extract I recommend the liquid vanilla extract
• 2 pc eggs
• 175 ml cream fresh whipped cream
• 1/2 pc lemon, peel and juice I use an organic lemon

Für das Karamellisieren

• 4 tbs brown sugar

Kirschen

• 100 g pickled morello cherries and juice out of glass
• 6 tbs sugar
• 1-2 pinches cinnamon

Instructions

Preparation water bath

• Preheat the oven to 180° C

  Grease a 28 cm diameter springform pan well with butter.

  Wrap the springform pan well with aluminium foil and prepare it waterproof for a water bath in the deep oven tray.
  

Cake base

• Crush the speculoos with a mortar and crush it finely.
  
  
• Melt the butter.
  
• Mix the speckulatius crumbs, butter and a pinch of salt together.
  
• Pour the resulting short pastry into the mould and press it firmly flat against the base.
  
• Put the filled springform pan aside for the next steps.
  

Filling

• Put cream cheese, cream, eggs, sugar in a bowl.
  
• Add starch, liquid vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon rubbing and mix.
  
• Pour the filling compound into the springform pan.
  
• Spread the mixture on the cookie dough.
  
• Reduce the oven temperature (top and bottom heat) to 120-140° C

  Place the springform pan in the deep oven tray. Pour 1/2 l water on it. The cake should be well protected by the aluminium foil in the tin.

  Bake the cake in a water bath for a good 90 minutes or let it set.

  Let the cake cool down after baking and put it in the refrigerator for about 6 hours.
  

Caramelize cake

• Sprinkle the well-cooled cake with 3-4 tablespoons of brown sugar and caramelise with the Crème Brulee burner until a light brown, crisp thin crust is formed.
  

Prepare cherries

• Place the pickled cherries in a sieve. Collect the juice. Place the drained cherries separately.
  
  
• Put the cherry juice with cinnamon and sugar in a saucepan or casserole on the stove and let it simmer at low temperature for about 20 minutes. - Optionally you can also add 1-2 tablespoons of rum.

  Then pour the boiled and thickened juice back over the cherries.
  

Serve

• Arrange the freshly caramelized cake pieces with the cherries decoratively and serve.

  Bon appetit!
  

Notes

8. Calories (kcal) Cherry Cake, the Nutritional Values at a Glance

Nutrition Facts

Christmas Cake

Amount Per Serving

Calories 971 Calories from Fat 414

% Daily Value*

Fat 46g71%

Saturated Fat 19g119%

Polyunsaturated Fat 8g

Monounsaturated Fat 11g

Cholesterol 268mg89%

Sodium 864mg38%

Potassium 576mg16%

Carbohydrates 109g36%

Fiber 7g29%

Sugar 36g40%

Protein 23g46%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

9. More Recipe Ideas...

with cherries:
Cherry pie with puff pastry
Simple cherry gratin

cakes and pies:
Lemon muffins
Apricot tart with puff pastry
Apricot cake with shortcrust pastry - Apricot tart french style

Christmas:
Tarte recipe from cookie dough

 

• All Recipes by German Chef Thomas Sixt
• Baking Recipes
• Cake Recipes
• Cherries Recipes
• Christmas Cookies
• Current and New Recipes
• Desserts & Sweets
• Top 15 Recipes for Christmas

OTHER LANGUAGES: German