One of the greatest desserts ever is cheesecake. And barbecuing it? Well when it is flipping 40+° in the shade and you want to keep the oven off in the house? How brilliant is it that you can do this?

While at the market, getting inspired to make the Honey Glazed Pork Tenderloin, I bought cherries for my husband. Well what do I think about cherries? What better to have them on than cheesecake. Okay, that is the ONLY way to eat cherries. (Although I am sure many of you will disagree) So online I go, in search of a good grilled cheesecake recipe. I knew about this video, but….

This video was inspirational, but did not give me anything in the way of selecting a cheesecake recipe. I poured over all of my cook books to find something that would work. Far too many have opted to go the way of the “no-bake” cheesecake. *shudder* But finally, in the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, I found a classic cheesecake recipe that I could adjust to suit our needs.

METHOD

1. Preheat your grill to medium (350°F) If you have 3 burners, turn on the outside two, leaving the one in the middle off. If two burners, turn on one only.
2. Leave your cream cheese out to get to room–ish temperature.

Crust

1. In a small bowl use a fork to combine the cinnamon and graham crumbs, then pour the melted butter over top and mix until all of the crumbs are wet. If you feel like the mixture is too moist, feel free to add more crumbs until you are satisfied. Keep in mind that the drier the mixture the less likely it is to stay together when served. If it is too wet, the crust may not bake properly. (Can I be any more vague??)
2. Spray your springform pan well with nonstick spray, then press the crumb mixture into the bottom of a springform pan, and up the sides as far as you can go. If you have an old–school metal measuring cup with a flat bottom, that will make your life easier, if not, using your hands works too. The crumb mixture should evenly cover the bottom with no gaps, and should stick to the sides of the pan. Set aside

Cheesecake

1. Cut up the cream cheese into smaller cubes and put them into a large bowl with the sugar, flour and vanilla. Blend with a hand mixer until well combined.
2. Add the eggs and sour cream, beating at low speed until smooth.
3. If your mixture is too thick for your liking, you can add the milk and stir it in, if it is just right, leave out the milk.
4. Pour the filling into your crust lined pan. Cover top with tin foil. This will keep out smoke from your previous meals if you were grilling prior to baking the cheesecake. However you can add a nice smokiness by using the charcoal tray and some cherry wood chips. Just leave a little room or gap in your tin foil.
   

   While you’re waiting for the cheesecake to bake, you can get distracted by any number of things like a cat!

5. Bake at 350°F for approximately 45 minutes. You can test the doneness of your cheesecake by carefully jiggling it. If the center‐inch still moves like jello you’re ready to pull it out.
6. Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then remove the sides of the pan and cool another 15 minutes. You can serve still warm, or chill for at least an hour. Do not put it in the freezer.

Cheesecake can be filled and topped and swirled with any number of ingredients.
Chocolate Cheesecake
Melt ½ cup of semisweet chocolate and beat it into the filling mixture just before adding the eggs.

Chocolate Swirl
Melt ¼ cup of semisweet chocolate and mix it into ½–ish of the filling. Pour the plain filling into the crust, then pour chocolate flavored filling over top, using your spatula to swirl it into the plain filling.

Summer Berry Cheesecake
Prepare the Stewed Summer Berry Pot, add ½ of the berry mixture to ½–ish of the filling. Pour the plain filling into the crust, then pour your berry mixed cheesecake filling over top, using your spatula to swirl it into the plain filling. Top with the other half of the summer berry pot.

Lemony Cheesecake
Add ½ tbsp. of lemon zest that has been chopped really fine, or 2 tsp. lemon juice and a couple of drops of yellow food colouring to the filling.

So after all of that, I never ended up putting the cherries on top. The cheesecake was served, still warm, with just a bit of cool whip and we totally forgot about the fresh cherries. Not that I knew what to do with them anyway. Does anyone out there know how to get rid of the cherry pits, or do I need a gadget for that? What sort of toppings do you do with your cheese cakes? What is your favorite?

Happy Grilling!