Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake

I tend to get a little bit, um, obsessive come St. Patrick’s Day.

Really.

You’d think I was actually Irish.

(In truth, I am 100% French Canadian. I haven’t a drop of Irish in me, unless you count all the Guinness beer and Irish Cream that I am fond of consuming this time of year. And mind you, being pregnant doesn’t place a damper on my love of all drinks Irish. I merely dump the Guinness into the stew and make cheesecake with the Bailey’s. Problem solved.)

So yeah, the festivities last for days around here, mainly because I can never narrow the menu down to just one meal. We will have Irish stew and soda bread for one meal and corned beef & cabbage for the next. Certainly we’ll have some Reuben sandwiches for lunch one day—not because they are Irish, necessarily, but because they are just so very good.

And the corned beef is on sale.

Naturally.

We had our biggest meal on Sunday night because I’ll be gone the evening of St. Patrick’s Day. I know, I know—what’s wrong with this would-be Irish lass?

(It’s my first quilting class, is what it is, and I really shouldn’t skip it.)

For Sunday’s meal, I went with Guinness Irish Stew and a nice crusty loaf of pumpernickel. For dessert we had Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake (for the grown-ups) and shamrock shakes for the kids. Except, come to think of it, the grown-ups were snitching the shamrock shakes in addition to their slice of cheesecake.

Note to self: buy more ice cream next year.

I got all the recipes out of this month’s Faith and Family.

They.

Were.

Excellent.

And so without further adieu, here is that recipe for…

~ Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake ~

Crust

10 whole graham crackers, broken into pieces
¼ C. sugar
6 T. butter, melted

Filling

24 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 C. sugar
3 large eggs
1/3 C. Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Topping

1 ½ C. sour cream
¼ C. powdered sugar (I used a touch more.)
1 ½ oz. white chocolate, grated

For crust: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease 9-inch springform pan. Grind the graham crackers and sugar in a food processor until you’ve got a nice bunch of crumbs; add the butter and pulse a few times. Press the crumbs onto the bottom and sides of your springform pan and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Have some Bailey’s in a glass. Start on the filling.

For the filling: Blend your cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until smooth. Whisk the eggs, Bailey’s, and vanilla in a small bowl, then blend this mixture into the cream cheese. Pour into the springform pan and bake until the edges of the filling are puffed and look dry, and the center is just set, about 50 minutes.

Cross your fingers. Have another glass of Bailey’s.

Cool the cheesecake on a rack when it’s done.

For the topping: Mix sour cream and powdered sugar in a small bowl. Spread onto the cooled cake with a rubber scraper. Refrigerate for six hours or so; sprinkle with grated chocolate; consume with wild abandon.

Good St. Patrick, pray for us!

*For a printable copy of this recipe, click here.