This recipe is courtesy of Tiffany MacIsaac, pastry chef at Birch & Barley in Washington, D.C., who recommends Aventinus -- Weissbierbrauerei Schneider as the beer of choice to accompany this cheesecake. If you can’t find creme fraiche, just use sour cream. Also, more of the peanut butter cookie will be made than needed for the crust. Either nibble on the extra cookie while waiting for the cheesecake to cool, or crumble on top of the cheesecake for garnish.
Makes 8 to 12 servings
For The Peanut Butter Cookie Crust
1/4 pound (1 stick) plus about 3 tablespoons softened unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
Cooking oil spray
For The Cheesecake Filling
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch kosher salt
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons creme fraiche
For The Garnish
1 cup port (optional)
Champagne grapes
Salted roasted peanuts
To make the cookie for the crust, preheat the oven to 325 degree.
Cream the stick of butter and the sugars on medium speed in an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment if you have it, until fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, stir together the baking soda, flour and salt, add to the butter mixture and mix to combine. Stir in the peanut butter.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. The dough will be very sticky. Wet a spatula with water and spread the dough out on the parchment-covered cookie sheet to an even thickness of 1/3-inch. Bake 25 to 35 minutes, until golden brown.
Remove from the oven but leave the oven on. Using a fork, scrape the warm cookie dough back and forth to crumble it. (Only half of the cookie needs to be crumbled for the recipe. Eat the remainder or use it to garnish the plate and the dish before serving the cake.) Cool cookie crumbles to room temperature.
While the cookie crumble is cooling, combine the cream cheese, sugar and salt on low speed in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla seeds and extract. Add slowly to the cream cheese mixture, scraping down the bowl as needed. Stir in the creme fraiche.
Wrap an 8-inch springform pan with a double layer of aluminum foil. Lightly spray the bottom and sides with oil. Bring a kettle of water to a boil.
Use your fingers to crumble any large pieces remaining of the peanut butter cookie crumble. Combine 2 cups crumbles with the remaining 3 tablespoons butter. It should hold together when pressed; if not, mix in a little more butter. Press evenly onto the bottom of the springform pan.
Pour the cheesecake filling over the crust.
Put a larger pan on the oven shelf and place the springform pan in it. Pour boiling water halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Cover the larger pan with foil. Bake for 45 minutes.
Remove the foil and turn off the oven. Leave the cake for 10 to 15 minutes more, or until set (which is when the entire cheesecake jiggles when gently shaken).
Chill the cheesecake for at least 2 hours before slicing.
If you want to garnish it with sauce, gently simmer the port until it is reduced to 1/4 cup. Chill.
Drizzle dessert plates with the reduced port, if using, and garnish cake slices with grapes and peanuts. Sprinkle remaining peanut butter cookie crumble on top of cheesecake.
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