Chai-spiced Cheesecake With Ginger Crust

Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• vegetable oil cooking spray
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 cup minced crystallized ginger
• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 (8 ounce) container mascarpone cheese (italian cream cheese)
• 5 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/3 cups sour cream
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Recipe

• 1 for crust: spray 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 3â€? high sides with nonstick spray.
• 2 sift flour, ginger, and salt into medium bowl. using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in another medium bowl until blended.
• 3 beat in egg yolk, then flour mixture.
• 4 stir in crystallized ginger.
• 5 gather dough into ball; flatten into disk.
• 6 roll out on floured surface to 9-inch round. transfer to prepared pan.
• 7 press onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of pan; pierce all over with fork. freeze 30 minutes.
• 8 position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°f line crust with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights.
• 9 bake until set, about 30 minutes. remove foil and beans.
• 10 bake crust until golden brown and cooked through, about 20 minutes. cool crust completely on rack.
• 11 for filling: preheat oven to 350°f using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until smooth, about 3 minutes.
• 12 add mascarpone; beat until smooth.
• 13 beat in whole eggs, 1 at a time, then beat in yolks.
• 14 add next 6 ingredients; beat until blended. transfer filling to cooled crust in pan; smooth top.
• 15 bake cake 1 hour.
• 16 reduce oven temperature to 200°f continue baking until cake is set around edges, but center moves slightly when pan is gently shaken (top of cake may crack, about 30 minutes longer.
• 17 remove cake from oven. increase oven temperature to 350°f
• 18 for topping: whisk all ingredients in small bowl; spread evenly over top of cake.
• 19 bake until set, about 10 minutes.
• 20 run small knife around cake sides. chill uncovered overnight.
• 21 remove pan sides. transfer cake to platter. cut into wedges and serve.