An Irish recipe for success: Traditional Irish butter shortbread cheesecake

By: CHEF GAFFNEY | Published Wednesday, March 17, 2010, 7:29 AM | Updated Wednesday, March 17, 2010, 12:37 PM

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An Irish recipe for success: Traditional Irish butter shortbread cheesecake

CRUST:

4 cups shortbread, crumbled.

4 tablespoons melted Kerrygold unsalted butter

FILLING:

3 X 8oz cream cheese (at room temp)

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/3 cup Brady’s Irish Cream

3 eggs (at room temp)

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 9” spring form pan. Do not use sprays.  Make sure you grease the sides for easier removal.

Mix crumbs and melted butter. Press this mixture into pan. Bake for approximately five minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove from oven. When cool, place in refrigerator to chill.

Next beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla. Beat this very well, approximately minutes. Add Brady’s Irish Cream.

Now pour this prepared mixture over base. Bake for approximately 80 minutes.  It is best to make this a day in advance, as it sets nicely.

TIP: When I serve this, I just remove the outer pan, place on a cake plate and decorate around the perimeter with lots of Raspberries. This way, there is no worrying about removing the base!

TIP: When the cheesecake is baked, it is supposed to be a little wiggly in the center. You may leave this in the oven (turned off of course) for an hour to allow it to cool gradually, preventing cracking. The key here is to slowly cool the cheesecake.

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