Kisses Candy Cane Swirl Cheese Cake

I saw the recipe for this cheesecake last year but I felt a little too overwhelmed to make it, I had never made a cheesecake before and did not want to have a holiday disaster. This year being unemployed, I thought I would give it a try before Christmas. I made it at the beginning of December and it was easy to make and easy to cook. The only issue I have is that the top cracked a little bit. I was told next time to cook the cheesecake in a water bath and I was excited to try it. Excited, until I discovered my only pan suitable was too small for the water bath, so the cheesecake will be cooked without the water bath, as I do not want to go out and spend $20 on a bigger pan. This time I will watch the cheesecake a little more closely and see if that helps prevent cracking.

This cheesecake is made with candy cane kisses,vanilla wafers, butter, sugar, cream cheese, milk( I am using half and half,as it is only used to melt the kisses) and vanilla extract.

For the crust you use vanilla wafers, butter and a small amount of sugar. I do not have a food processor, so I put the vanilla wafers in a plastic bag and smashed them with my rolling pin. As caveman like as it sounds it works. The crust is cooked for 8 minutes at 350 degrees.

The batter of the cheesecake is made with cream cheese, vanilla extract, eggs and sugar blended until smooth.

Right before pouring the batter on top of the crust, remove 1/4 cup to mix for the candy cane kiss topping.

The topping involves 20 candy cane kisses melted down with milk and then mixed in with the remaining cheesecake batter. You then drop the mixture by spoonfuls on top of the cake and then gently swirl the mixture into the cake.

The cake is to be cooked at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes.

The end result of the cake was okay but not very presentation worthy, browned along the edges and the top was cracking, so there will be no picture of this cake.

Today I made the same cake but instead I reduced the temperature to 325 degrees and set the timer for 40 minutes, after looking at the cake after baking for 30 minutes, I think I will be cooking it less than 40 minutes. I ended up cooking the cheesecake for 35 minutes and I am much happier with the result. The next time however, I will work more on the perfect swirl so I have less white on one side of the cake.