Chestnut-Swirl Cheesecake

We love cheesecake in this house. We've made Eggnog Cheesecake, Cherry Cheesecake, Cranberry-Lemon Cheesecake, and my husband's favorite: Plain White Cheescake. So, when I asked what I could do with some chestnut paste that I found, I shouldn't have been too surprised with the answer was - cheesecake! Let's do it.

CRUST

2 C crushed spicy grahams

1 C ground almonds

1/2 C (stick) melted butter

2 T organic granulated sugar

Mix all of the ingredients together until moist clumps form. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and up sides of a springform pan that's been wrapped in foil. Chill crust while preparing filling.

FILLING
3 - 8 oz. packages cream cheese, room temperature

1 C organic granulated sugar

3 large eggs

2 C organic sour cream

1 T organic honey

1 t pure vanilla extract

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Beat cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in sugar. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in sour cream, honey, and vanilla.

Transfer filling to prepared crust. Place springform pan in large roasting pan. Pour enough boiling water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake until cheesecake puffs around edges, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn off oven. Let cake stand in oven 1 hour, leaving oven door ajar.

If you would like to top the cheesecake with a sour cream topping, beat together 1-1/2 C sour cream, 1 T vanilla, and 1 T organic sugar. Spread this over the cheesecake and bake in a 350 degree oven again for 5 minutes.

Transfer cake to rack. Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Cool completely. Remove foil from pan sides. Cover cake and chill. Ideally you want to chill the cheesecake overnight. I only had today, so it chilled for about 6 hours. Remove pan sides to serve.

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