Red Raspberry Grand Marnier Cheesecake Cupcakes

Red Raspberry Grand Marnier Cheesecake Cupcakes

Wow, that's a mouthful to say. But oh is it a tasty one!

Our friend Allison asked for us to make something for her birthday and all she said that she liked was cheese. So.. cheesecake it is!

For this recipe I kind of mixed and matched from other recipes around the web. I had never made a cheesecake before, other than with my mom growing up. I got the recipe for the actual cake from Driscoll's, but I wanted to use a graham cracker crust & I came up with the raspberry sauce by combining a couple different recipes.

Ingredients

Cheesecake

4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, at room temperature

2/3 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cups sour cream

1 tablespoon cornstarch

4 large eggs

1/3 cups Grand Marnier or orange flavored liqueur

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Raspberry Coulis

1 pint raspberries

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

2 Tablespoon Grand Marnier

 

Method

Crust

Preheat oven to 350°F. Pulse graham crackers in a blender or food processor to make fine crumbs. Press onto bottom of lined cupcake pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool completely. Reduce oven to 325°F.

Cheesecake

Combine cream cheese, sugar, sour cream and cornstarch in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in Grand Marnier and vanilla; pour into prepared crust.

Bake 15-20 min. at 325°F. Turn off oven and prop the door ajar. Let cool in the oven. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Raspberry Coulis

Combine berries, sugar, water and zest in a saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium low; cook until sugar is dissolved, about 8 minutes. Use a pastry brush dipped in water to brush down any sugar crystals on the side of the pan. Remove from heat; cool completely. Place mixture in the jar of a blender; puree until smooth. Pass through a fine-mesh colander, and discard solids. Stir in Grand Marnier.

We soaked the raspberries in Bourbon as well to give it a little kick!