It’s the new year. Something so sad about post-holidays. When I was a kid, I always thought January was so depressing- Christmas was over, the weather was awful, nothing to look forward to until Valentine’s Day. But over the past few years, I’ve come to see the promise of a new year- goals that I actually have been keeping, when we lived in Southern California, the weather post Christmas was the same as pre-Christmas, which means glorious. And of course, the 4-day weekend next week helps, too.
Anyhoo, I will tell you that eating less desserts is NOT one of my New Year’s resolutions, so I don’t feel badly about posting this. Almond Joy cheesecake. I know I just posted a cheesecake recipe (by “just” I mean two months ago. Oops), but this one is pretty great. You could use it for the aforementioned Valentine’s Day!
My favorite go-to cheesecake recipe is Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Cheesecake. It’s very straight-forward and always turns out perfectly. Except for that time I dropped 1/2 of an eggshell in the batter while the mixer was running. It was a sad day.
So, for this, I used his cheesecake recipe. However, I added 1/2 c toasted coconut and 1/4 c slivered almonds to the crust. I also added 1/2 teaspoon of coconut extract to the cheesecake batter along with the vanilla.
Once the cheesecake is baked and cooled. I covered it with a ganache glaze and topped it with more toasted coconut. Yum.
Follow the directions above for the cheesecake. And the ones below for the ganache.
Ganache Glaze
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Combine the chocolate chips, cream, and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently until smooth.Remove the pan from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Pour the glaze over the cheesecake and spread evenly.
Chill the cheesecake overnight or until firm and set. Top with toasted coconut and toasted sliced almonds and serve.
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