Rich smoked porter and silky cream cheese make a heavenly combo in this shortbread-crusted cheesecake.
24 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
6 eggs, room temperature
2 pints sour cream, room temperature
⅓ cup cornstarch
24 oz. Alaskan Smoked Porter
1 cup shortbread cookie crumbs
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Boil beer until reduced to ¾ cup. Set aside to cool.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine cream cheese and sugars. Mix well. Add salt, vanilla and eggs (one at a time), beating until the mixture is smooth. Add sour cream, cornstarch and the reduced beer. Continue mixing until all ingredients are incorporated.
Press cookie crumbs into bottom of a lightly greased springform pan.
Carefully pour batter into the pan and smooth until level. Place in oven with a pan of water on the rack beneath. Bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes, or until center is set but still jiggles. Remove and cool overnight in the refrigerator.
From Cooking with Alaskan Beer (Alaskan Brewing Company, 2010).
