Macadamia Nut Cheesecake and .......

Several weeks or was it months ago, September 24th to be exact, I promised to post my Macadamia Cheesecake Recipe. Well here it is. Thanks to Dr. Yeu-Tsu Margaret Lee a General Surgeon Volunteer from Hawaii, I had the incredible blessing of owning Macadamia Nuts for the first time in four or five years!

Photo is not mine it was borrowed from: http://www.mainmainmasakmasak.wordpress.com/

When Dr. Yeu-Tsu Margaret Lee arrived for the Medical Missions trip in September she brought with her a HUGE bag of Macadamia nuts. I was so excited, I wanted to cancel the medical team and go home to bake, but alas it was not to be.

The team was full of adventure and was well worth the effort, but after I dropped her off at the airport, I went home to make Macadamia Cheesecake.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cheese Cake

White chocolate adds to the creamy texture and rich flavor of this cheesecake. I have no idea where I found the recipe, it was cut out of a magazine years ago and I just cut around the recipe and didn't save the magazine name.

1 ½ cups of chocolate wafer crumbs (since I can’t get those in Honduras I use graham cracker crumbs)
1 ½ cups chopped Macadamia Nuts, divided use
¾ cup real butter, divided use
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 packages of cream cheese (8 ounces each)
¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 large eggs
¾ pound white chocolate melted
1 tablespoon liqueur (I use Grand Marnier)
2 teaspoons almond extract (the recipe calls for vanilla, but I like almond better)
2 tablespoons semi sweet chocolate chips melted (I skip this as I like the white chocolate flavor alone)

Combine chocolate wafer crumbs, ½ cup of Macadamia Nuts, ¼ cup of melted butter, and cinnamon and mix well. Press into the bottom of a 9” springform pan. Bake 10 minutes and then cool.

Beat softened cream cheese until it is fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix after each addition. Stir in ½ cup of softened but not melted butter. Add melted white chocolate, liqueur and almond flavoring. Mix well. Fold in remaining Macadamia Nuts. Pour into the cooled crust.

Bake for 1 ½ hours at 300 degrees or until the center is set. Turn the oven off, open the oven door and let the cheesecake cool while in the oven. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. This is the hardest part! Serve with melted chocolate poured over the top.