TWD: Tall and Creamy Cheese Cake

This is the last TWD recipe for this year! When I started baking with the group, I thought I needed to bake every week, until I realized how much time and ingredients that took! There are many bakers out there that do participate each week, but unfortunately I'm not one of them. So, it has been a couple of weeks since I last posted a TWD post, but this cheesecake was a great way to finish off December. Thanks goes out to Anne at Anne Strawberry for choosing this week's recipe. This is a nice basic cheesecake that I chose to dress up a bit. I've included the topping recipe, as it's not a Dorie Greenspan recipe. (PS. Happy Birthday, MOM!)



Cranberry Topping
3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup water
2 Tbls cornstarch
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted

In a large saucepan, combine the cranberries, sugar and water. Bring to a boil. reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 3 minutes. Combine cornstarch and orange juice until smooth; stir into cranberry mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in pecans. Place in small bowl to accompany cheesecake or spoon over cheesecake once mixture has cooled to room temperature.