My grandmother taught me to bake the family cheesecake recipe when I was about 11 years old and within a decade I had adapted it to include Irish cream. I baked several for special occasions, for simple gatherings, for school auctions and bake sales and I even baked 30 individual ones for my birthday party the year Becky got her wisdom teeth out. Now, I’m sharing the recipe with you. This is a treasured recipe in my family so if you post about it, please link back to this original post and not copy/paste the recipe on your own site. It is also available in my first book, Bake Knit Sew (Anchor and Bee, 2014).
Snyder Family Irish Cream Cheesecake
Crust: (see note below)
- 1 1/2 Cup Graham Cracker or digestive biscuit crumbs
- 3/4 Stick Butter
Cake:
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 24 ounces (3 packages) plain cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur
- 2 teaspoons butterscotch schnapps liqueur or vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 375F or 190C degrees.
2. To make crust, mix crumbs and butter thoroughly. Cover bottom of spring form pan and part way up the sides. Set aside.
3. Using a mixer, blend 8 ounces of cream cheese with 1 egg and 1/3 cup of sugar. Repeat this twice. This lets the ingredients gradually mix together and maintain a smooth texture. Scrape around the sides of the mixing bowl to bring the mixture into the center of the bowl. Add the liqueurs and mix again for about 1 minute. Pour mixture into spring form pan with prepared crust.
4. Bake on the center rack of the oven for 40 to 50 minutes, until the top takes on a light golden color and the edges have puffed slightly. Oven temperatures vary, if the cheesecake center still jiggles like the original batter, continue to bake the cake in 10-minute increments until it is ready.
5. Remove cake from then oven and set aside to cool for at least 15 minutes. It is delicious when served warm. If you prefer to serve it chilled, cover the spring form pan with aluminum foil or a plate to ward off any sediment and discourage taste-testers. Cool in refrigerator until ready to serve.
6. The cake is delicious all by itself, but if you are inspired to add garnish, add sprigs of mint. For an adult dinner party, drizzle a little Irish cream liqueur over individual cake slices.
NOTE: If you do not have a spring form pan or if you do not have the time to create the handmade crust, you may use a ready-made crumb or shortbread crust from the grocery store. These crusts come in various sizes (usually 9 to 13 inches) and are in an aluminum pie dish. I have found that using a ready-made crust is the best way to go if you are preparing this for a pot luck dinner since often spring form pans do not find their way back home.
Here are photos of the process:
