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Christmas cheesecake on a plate.

Christmas Cheesecake

A rich, creamy Christmas cheesecake with a silky New York–style filling and a bright pomegranate glaze. Festive, beautiful, and easier than you’d expect, this holiday cheesecake is perfect for Christmas celebrations, gifting, or a show-stopping dessert.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings 16
Calories/serving 329 kcal

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.
    Graham cracker crust to the bottom of the pan.

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.
    Mixing the cheesecake batter.
  • 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.
    Adding the batter to a 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.
    Testing the thickness of the pomegranate glaze..
  • 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!
    Pouring the glaze on top of the baked cheesecake.

Notes

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Be careful not to over mix after adding the eggs as this could cause your cheesecake to crack.

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 329kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 28gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 1199mgPotassium: 566mgFiber: 0.1gSugar: 37gVitamin A: 191IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 610mgIron: 1mg
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