Say cheese...cake for the holidays

What's a holiday meal without cheesecake?  Champagne Cheesecake for New Years, a Raspberry Cheesecake for valentines, Lime Cheesecake for St. Patty's Day...you get the idea.

Well, in celebration of Christmas, I wanted something red and white to celebrate the season that was not peppermint. I think a lot of people are tired of peppermint at this time of year. (I have one daughter, however, who would eat candy canes year 'round if they were available, so not everyone wants to skip that flavor, for sure.)

As for me, however, I wanted a break. So I sought out another, less pervasive, Christmas flavor - cranberries.

I found a recipe on a blog that promotes lighter fare cooking  and adapted it a bit for my own taste.

The Cranberry Cheesecake is just the right blend of sweet and tart. 

Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake

4 ounces of graham crackers
3 tablespoons of oil (not olive oil)
Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups of fresh cranberries
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of Chambord (raspberry liqueur) or rum
3 tablespoons of water
1 cup of sugar
2 (8-ounce) packages of lower fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup of fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 cup of plain fat-free Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1/8 teaspoon of salt
3 large eggs
2 large egg whites

• Preheat oven to 375°.
• Wrap outside and bottom of a 9-inch springform pan tightly with a double layer of heavy-duty foil.
• Put the crackers in a  blender and process until they are finely ground. Drizzle with the oil and pulse them until they're combined. Then press the mixture into bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of your pan, which has been coated with cooking spray. Bake the crust at 375° for 8 minutes and cool on a rack.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 325°.
• Put the cranberries, the sugar, the liqueur, and the water in a saucepan and bring it all to a boil. Cook for 8 minutes or until the cranberries pop and the mixture is syrupy. Cool for 20 minutes and then put the mixture into your blender and blend it until it's smooth.
• Combine 1 cup of the sugar and the cheeses in a large bowl and beat with a mixer at medium speed until it's smooth. Beat in the yogurt,  the vanilla, and the salt. Add the whole eggs, 1 at a time, and beat it all well after each egg goes in.
• Put the 2 egg whites in a medium bowl and beat them with a mixer at high speed until soft peaks form. (Make sure you use clean, dry beaters for the best results.) Fold the beaten egg whites into the cream cheese mixture.
• Pour the cream  cheese filling over the crust. Spoon the cranberry mixture over the filling and swirl the red and white together using the tip of a knife.
• Put the springform pan into a 13-by-9 metal baking pan. Add 2 inches of hot water to the baking pan.
• Bake at 325° for 50 minutes or until the center of cheesecake barely moves when pan is touched.
• Turn off the oven and cool your cheesecake in the closed oven (no peeking) for 30 minutes.
• Remove the cheesecake from the oven and run a knife around outside edge. Cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours.