This Christmas Cheesecake is everything you want in a holiday dessert: rich, creamy, beautifully smooth, and topped with a sparkling pomegranate glaze that looks like a show-stopping Christmas ornament. It's simple to make for a baked cheesecake, and the festive flavor makes it perfect for Christmas dinner or gifting to someone special.
Why This Recipe is the Best
The blend of creamy New York-style cheesecake and bright, tangy pomegranate makes this recipe feel like Christmas-both in flavor and appearance. The pomegranate glaze adds a fresh, seasonal flavor that feels special without being complicated. This cheesecake slices beautifully, holds shape, and tastes even better the next day, making it ideal for Christmas Day dessert or holiday entertaining.
For more Cheesecake recipes, try our Pumpkin Cheesecake, Classic Philadelphia Cheesecake, and our decadent Cranberry White Chocolate Cheesecake.
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Key Ingredients
This classic cheesecake recipe is topped with a tasty pomegranate.
- Cream Cheese- Be sure to use high-quality full-fat cream cheese (Philadelphia or better) to give it that luxurious, velvety texture. Be sure to soften to ensure a lump-free batter.
- Pomegranate- Use fresh pomegranate seeds for topping and pomegranate juice for the glazed topping.
- Sour Cream- Helps give the cheesecake that classic taste and texture.
- Eggs- Use room temperature eggs and be sure not to overmix them!
How to make Christmas Pomegranate Cheesecake
Learn how to make a Christmas Pomegranate Cheesecake with these easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions.
- Make the crust and set it aside.
- Place very soft cream cheese into a mixing bowl with the corn starch and ¼ cup of the sugar. Mix with a hand mixer on low speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom, and scrape off the beaters. With the mixer on, slowly add the remaining 1 cup of sugar and mix for about 1 minute total. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla, then mix until combined.
- Increase mixer speed to medium and add eggs, 1 at a time. Mix for about 20-30 seconds each, scraping down the bowl before adding the next. Pour batter into the prepared springform pan.
- Place the pan in the water bath and pour the boiling water until it is a couple of inches up the side of the pan. Place in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 60-70 minutes. When you nudge it, there will be a slight wobble in the center. Turn off the oven and crack the oven door, and walk away for an hour. After an hour, pull the cheesecake out and allow it to cool on a cooling rack undisturbed until it's about room temperature, around 2 hours. Move to the refrigerator and chill at least 4 hours, but preferably 8 or more hours before serving.
- Combine the cold pomegranate juice, sugar, and cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium heat. It will have a slightly opaque whitish look to it from the corn starch.
- Bring to a boil, and let cook until the sauce has thickened up and is translucent and no longer whitish, a few minutes.
- Spread about ½ of the pomegranate sauce over the top of the cheesecake. (Serve the remaining sauce on the side).
- Sprinkle pomegranate seeds over the top decoratively, serve, and enjoy!
Hint: Make sure your cream cheese is very soft-soft enough to press through with one finger. Microwave at 50% power in 10-15 second bursts if needed.
Common Mistakes
One of the biggest issues with cheesecake is lumps-almost always caused by cream cheese that isn't soft enough. If your cream cheese isn't "finger-smash soft," it won't blend smoothly, even with long mixing. It's easy to forget to scrape the beaters. Any thick bits left on the beaters will drop into the batter later and show up as surprise lumps in your finished cheesecake.
Top tip
Don't over-mix! Especially after adding the eggs. Too much mixing incorporates air, which leads to cracking as the cheesecake bakes. And finally,
Recipe
Christmas Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 6 ounces graham crackers crushed
- ¼ cup sugar
- 6 Tablespoons butter salted
For the Christmas Cheesecake Filling:
- 32 ounces cream cheese full fat, very soft- see note 1 Philadelphia recommended, see note 2 below
- ¼ cup corn starch
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
For the Pomegranate Glaze:
- 16 ounces pomegranate juice
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ¼ cup corn starch
- ½ cup fresh pomegranate seeds to add later!
Instructions
For the Crust:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter the sides of a 9- 10" springform pan, butter the bottom and sides. Wrap your springform pan with foil (I recommend following a tutorial on Youtube to ensure you don't get any leaks) or use a cheesecake moat.
- Melt butter then crush graham crackers until they're a sandy texture. Add the sugar and mix then the melted butter and mix until well combined. Press into the bottom and about 2 inches up the sides of the springform pan. Use the bottom and sides of a measuring cup to push the crust in firmly. Bake for 7 minutes and remove from the oven.
For the Cheesecake Filling:
- Place very soft cream cheese into a mixing bowl with the corn starch and ¼ cup of the sugar. Mix with a hand mixer on LOW speed for 2 minutes (see note 6 below for tips with a stand mixer). It will be smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides and bottom and scrape off the beaters (see note 3). With the mixer on, slowly add the remaining 1 cup of sugar and mix for about 1 minute total. Scrape down the sides again. Add the sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla then mix until combined.
- Increase mixer speed to medium and add eggs, 1 at a time. Mix for about 20-30 seconds each, scraping down the bowl before adding the next. Pour batter into the prepared springform pan.
- Place pan in the water bath (I use a large turkey roasting pan) and pour the boiling water until it's a couple inches up the side of the pan. Place in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 60-70 minutes. When you nudge it, there will be a slight wobble in the center. If you have an instant read thermometer, it should read 150°F. Turn off the oven and crack the oven door and walk away for an hour. After an hour, pull the cheesecake out and allow it to cool on a cooling rack undisturbed until it's about room temperature, around 2 hours. Move to the refrigerator and chill at least 4 hours, but preferably 8 or more before serving.
Pomegranate Sauce:
- Before serving, make the sauce.
- Combine the cold pomegranate juice, sugar and cornstarch together in a small saucepan over medium heat. It will have a slightly opaque whitish look to it from the corn starch. Bring to a boil, and let cook until the sauce has thickened up and is translucent and no longer whitish, a few minutes.
- Spread about ½ of the pomegranate sauce over the top of the cheesecake. (serve the remaining sauce on the side). Sprinkle pomegranate seeds over the top decoratively, serve and enjoy!
Notes
- For the smoothest possible cheesecake, you don't want to over mix it. Part of this means using cream cheese that is super soft. Your finger should be able to smoosh through it easily before use. You can microwave room temperature cream cheese at 50% power in 10-15 second increments to reach this very soft phase if your kitchen isn't warm enough to get it there.
- Over the years I've made cheesecake with a variety of brands of cream cheese. When it comes to cheesecake it makes a HUGE difference. Please consider using Philadelphia or even higher end cream cheese. There is a reason there is a big price difference and it will mean having your cheesecake turn out vs not turning out.
- I find that if you don't scrape off the beaters, then filling that's on the beaters stays thick, which comes up as potential lumps in your cheesecake later on.
- Be careful not to over mix after adding the eggs as this could cause your cheesecake to crack.
Nutrition
Variations & Substitutions
You can easily turn this into different holiday-themed cheesecakes by switching the glaze. A cranberry glaze, a chocolate ganache, or even crushed peppermint sprinkled over whipped cream all work beautifully.
If you want a Christmas-themed design, you can top the cheesecake with sugared rosemary "trees," piped whipped cream borders, or a wreath of pomegranate arils around the edge.
Storing Christmas Cheesecake
This cheesecake stores wonderfully. Keep it covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. For the best texture, chill at least 8 hours before serving. You can also freeze it (without the pomegranate glaze) for up to 2 months-wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then foil. Add the glaze after thawing for the prettiest finish.
FAQ
Pomegranate is one of the best holiday flavors-bright, festive, and jewel-toned-but cranberry, peppermint, gingerbread, or orange also work well for a Christmas cheesecake.
Use very soft cream cheese and avoid over-mixing once the eggs go in. Over-mixing leads to cracks and a slightly tough texture.
Yes! Cheesecake is actually better the next day. Make the base the day before and add the pomegranate topping the morning of Christmas.
Fresh pomegranate seeds look like tiny ornaments. You can also create a wreath border, dust the edges with powdered sugar "snow," or add sugared rosemary sprigs.
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