[Lessa]

Has anyone baked it inside the cheesecake? I see about a thousand recipes for the gelatin type with peppermint crushed on top, but not in. Wondering if anyone had success with a true custard.

Thanks!!

[SGMChef]

Hi Lessa,

The short answer is no.

OK, that is out of the way..

Options-

Small chunks? Don't think so, they will end up being awful gummy as they will continue to absorb moisture like an old lifesaver.

Options, put those candycanes back into syrup form and adjust your fave recipe for the syrup. (Hmmmm, it will be a weird color though!)

Peppemint oil? it's a sure thing!

Living on the edge? Color half the batter red and swirl that sucker!

I would do a candycane tuile or a sleigh, christmas tree rather than use any hard candy at all. Just pipe the stripes.

Well that's just the two cents of an old Army cook...

Right after I hit the post button I thought about a chocolate painted mint leaf garnish, or a chiffonade of mint leaves, in the batter, if you let it sit long enough to let the flavor out.

Ok, enough already.

[5670.shirley]

May sound weird, but I did give it a try once. It has been quiet a long time now. But i was in the mood of experimenting and thus adding a thick pinch to my batter. The taste was fine I guess

[Cbuchholz]

This may not be what you're looking for, but I found this recipe on a bag of hershey's kisses (the holiday peppermint ones). It looks delicious!


KISSES Candy Cane Swirl Cheesecake



Ingredients:

• COOKIE CRUMB CRUST(recipe follows)
• 3 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 42 HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Candy Cane Mint Candies, divided
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Sweetened whipped cream

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare COOKIE CRUMB CRUST.

2. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Set aside 1/4 cup batter; spread remaining batter in prepared crust.

3. Remove wrappers from candies. Place 30 candies and milk in medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 1 minute; stir. If necessary, microwave at MEDIUM 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, until candies are melted and mixture is well blended when stirred. Gradually blend reserved cheesecake batter into candy mixture. Drop candy mixture by tablespoonfuls onto vanilla batter. Gently swirl with knife for marbled effect.

4. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until center is almost set. Remove from oven to wire rack. With knife, loosen cake from side of pan. Cool completely; remove side of pan. Cover; refrigerate until chilled. Garnish with whipped cream and remaining candies. Cover; refrigerate leftovers. 10 to 12 servings.

COOKIE CRUMB CRUST: Heat oven to 350°F. Stir together 1-1/2 vanilla wafer cookie crumbs (about 45 cookies) and 1 tablespoon sugar in medium bowl; blend in 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter or margarine. Press mixture onto bottom and 1/2 inch up side of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 8 minutes; cool.

[Lessa]

Thanks a lot ! I think I am going to try both, with the peppermint oil in one and the candies in another (I think that will give it a white chocolate/peppermint mix that will be tasty).

Party is scheduled for Dec 20...will test a batch this week and let you know!

[chefpeon]

I was thinking about doing peppermint cheesecake for my holiday menu, but I couldn't wrap my head around the concept of peppermint and cheese......it sounds awful to me personally. I didn't think it would sell.

[Lessa]

I can tell you right now, Hershey's could make a mint if they sold kisses in production form. Peeling off all those foils sucked.

so, I ended up using a school cheesecake recipe, doubled for two test cakes and added 9 oz of rough chop Kisses. Graham crust on bottom and it was perfect. I would probably choose a dryer recipe next time and a more thorough chop on the kisses but the flavor worked really well with the cream cheese. I would put this on a holiday menu. The color was really nice with the pink/red dots swirled slightly around the cake.

Sorry about the format, I just can't get it in list form.
Cream cheese 1.5 # Sugar 5 oz Sour cream 2.5 oz Cornstarch 1 oz Lemon juice 1 Tb Vanilla extract 1 oz Egg 3 Heavy cream 20 oz P. Kisses 4.5 oz chopped
doubled put this at 40 oz of H. Cream and made for a wiggle middle. I think I would also put in some flour to make it denser. Thanks for all the suggestions!

[Cbuchholz]

Well I'm glad you made it work! Thanks for letting us know how the final product went!!