Blueberry Cheesecake

By miss5elements

Savor the best of the blues with this crowd-pleasing blueberry cheesecake from Dick Deacon of Lawrenceville, Georgia. “Dick and I became highly desired members of a supper club group in anticipation of his contributions,” notes his wife, Sybil.

Ingredients

• FILLING:
• 40 vanilla wafers, crushed
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 2 cups (16 ounces) 4% cottage cheese
• 2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream
• 6 tablespoons cornstarch
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• BLUEBERRY GLAZE:
• 3-1/2 cups fresh blueberries, divided
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• Edible pansiesor violas and fresh mint leaves, optional

Details

Servings 14
Preparation time 60mins
Cooking time 130mins
Adapted from tasteofhome.com

Preparation

Step 1

In a large bowl, combine the wafer crumbs, pecans and butter. Press onto the bottom and 2 in. up the sides of a greased 10-in. springform pan. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375° for 8 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce heat to 325°.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and sugar until smooth. Process cottage cheese in a blender until smooth; beat into a cream cheese mixture. Beat in the sour cream, cornstarch, flour, lemon juice and vanilla. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour over crust.

Return pan to baking sheet. Bake at 325° for 70-80 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight

For glaze, puree 2-1/2 cups blueberries in a food processor; press through a fine mesh sieve, reserving 1 cup juice. Discard pulp and seeds.

In a small saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and reserved blueberry juice until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Refrigerate until completely cooled.

Remove sides of pan. Spread glaze over cheesecake. Sprinkle with remaining blueberries; garnish with pansies or violas and mint if desired. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 14-16 servings.