The Witchery

The following is a portmanteau of two completely different recipes. I wanted to make a Banana Cream Cheesecake, but the recipe I found didn't make me happy. So I found a different filling recipe, and played with them both. The result was excellent.


Portmanteau Banana Cream Cheesecake

Crust:
1 1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/2 cup ground walnuts
5 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:
3 8 oz cream cheese, softened
2/3 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 3/4 cup)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Topping:
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
3 tablespoons cold water
1 cup milk
1/3 cup white sugar
4 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Spray a 10" springform pan with baking spray. Cover the outside bottom with foil (to help prevent leakage)

In a medium bowl, mix together the vanilla wafer crumbs, ground walnuts, and melted butter. Press into the bottom of the springform pan.

Beat cream cheese with a electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in sugar and corn starch, then eggs, then bananas, heavy cream, and vanilla. Pour mixture over crust.

Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 200°F and bake an additional 75 minutes or until center is almost set. Allow to cool completely, the refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

In a small bowl, sprinkle the unflavored gelatin over the cold water, and set aside to soften. Heat milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until hot but not boiling. Meanwhile, whisk together 1/3 cup sugar and egg yolks until smooth and frothy. Whisk about 1/3 of the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, then pour the yolk mixture into the pan with the remaining milk. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a spatula, making sure that the mixture does not burn on the bottom, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from the heat. Stir the softened gelatin into the hot pastry cream until dissolved, then stir in vanilla. Pour into a bowl, place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface, and refrigerate until cooled, about 1 hour.

When the pastry cream is cooled, whip heavy cream just past soft peaks. Stir pastry cream to soften, then fold in the whipped cream. Place vanilla wafers on top of the cooled cheesecake, then spread the vanilla cream over the entire top. Chill until serving. Run a wet knife around the outer edge of the cake before removing the sides for a cleaner look.

Not even going to try and guess how many WW points this is. I'm not that masochistic.