Cranberry Cheesecake

For those fancy holiday parties or just because.

Cheesecake:
cooking spray, for pan
3 (8 oz) bars cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
¼ cup sour cream
1 large orange, freshly grated
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, unbleached
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
½ tsp. sea salt

Crust:
1 sleeve graham crackers, finely crushed
5 Tbsp. butter, melted
¼ cup brown sugar
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 pinch sea salt

Cranberries:
½ cup water
2 Tbsp. orange juice, freshly squeezed
1½ cups sugar, divided
1 cup fresh cranberries

Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C/140°C fan, Gas Mark 3) and grease an 8" or 9" springform pan with cooking spray.

Make the Cheesecake Filling:
In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, then sour cream, orange zest, flour, vanilla and salt.

Make the Crust:
In a large bowl, mix together graham cracker crumbs, butter, melted, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Press mixture into prepared pan.

Pour filling over crust. Wrap bottom of pan in aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet. (If you want to bake the cheesecake in a water bath, wrap bottom of pan and place in a deep baking pan. Pour in enough boiling water to come up halfway in the baking pan.) Bake until center of cheesecake only slightly jiggles, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Turn off heat, prop open oven door and let cheesecake cool in oven, 1 hour, then remove aluminum foil and refrigerate cheesecake in pan until firm, at least 5 hours and up to overnight.

Meanwhile, make the sugared cranberries: In a medium sauce pot over medium heat, combine water, orange juice and ½ cup sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved, 3-4 minutes. Add in cranberries and toss until fully coated.

Transfer onto parchment paper and let cool, about 15 minutes. When cool, toss in remaining sugar and top cheesecake. Serve.

Makes 8-10 servings.