Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake

No need to put the cheesecake in the water.  Simply place the roasting pan partially filled with water on the bottom rack. Yields same results an no risk ruining the cheesecake if you don't get pan sealed with foil properly.

This was my first cheesecake and it turned out amazing. I used all original cream cheese and I used a pre- made graham cracker pie crust to save time. The cranberry mixture was the perfect touch.

To the poor disappointed soul whose crust got soggy from the water bath: next time buy a turkey-sized oven bag. Put the cheesecake in the oven bag, seal it from the top, THEN put it in the water bath. No leaks. Happy cheesecake baking. :-)

Great tips. Be sure to use quality vanilla extracts - you get what you pay for! I run http://makingvanilla.com and show people all the time how to make their own homemade vanilla. It's easy and even cheaper than the imitation stuff. And there's nothing like a fantastic dessert like this to make it worth it!

Like a stupid idiot I followed the recipe. Who would take springform pan and insert it in a water bath? The 4 layers of foil leaked anyway and were seeped up into the cheesecake. That's why it took 1/2 hr extra to cook. The chocolate crust is mushy and now I have nothing to take to the party after 3 hrs of work. A better idea - if you put the springform pan into another pan and then into the waterbath, it would keep the water out.

Made this cheesecake for a party. Everyone loved it! I agree with extending the cooking time. I cooked it for an extra 15 minutes. I used regular cream cheese instead of low fat and regular greek yogurt instead of low fat. I did not buy Chambord (only because of the cost) and used cran-raspberry juice instead.

I made this for a Christmas party and it turned out well. My problem is that I strayed from the recipe a bit as I make cheesecakes all the time. The oil I omitted and went with butter for flavor. The cream cheese was all high fat. As I did the combination of this recipe and the one I always use for New York Style cheesecake base. The next day I noticed while it was out for a buffet this cheesecake didn't hold up well to staying out of the refigerator for a longer time frame. It was quite good loved the swirl and would make that again.

Our new holiday dessert - my family couldn't get enough! Substituted regular graham crackers for chocolate and came out perfectly. Do set aside an evening to prepare, though - it'll take a good four hours to make it look like the picture!

The family loved this cheesecake I served on Christmas Eve.--even the non-sweets eater! The only problem (?) I had was the swirls did not show. I followed the recipe to the T, but no swirls. The cranberry addition seemed to fall to the bottom of the cheesecake. It was still really good, but not like the picture. What did I do wrong? I will definitely make it again but would like the design to show.

This cheesecake is light and fluffy. A perfect end to our christmas dinner of prime rib and baked stuffed shrimp. It was also beautiful to look at. I used the 8 inch spring form pan, so it would fit in my 9x13 inch pan, and could only find chocolate teddy grahams at Whole Foods, so this is what I used. It was fine. My kids loved, loved, loved it, and were looking for leftovers later in the week when they came by to visit.

This is an amazing cheesecake. In my opinion, I think it's up there with cheesecake you would get at the Cheesecake Factory (for a lot less calories and fat). No one in my family guessed that it was lowfat and they said it was some of the best they'd ever had. Plus, it's so beautiful with the swirls of cranberry on top. Love it!

Fantastic cheesecake and gorgeous! I have made this 3 times for the holidays and I did use plain nonfat yogurt and it was fine. Another time I used 4 pkgs of neufchatel and that will be for tonights new years dinner party. Just a lovely festive dessert that I added to my recipe file. Oh yes twice I eliminated the whipped egg whites and that didnt seem to alter the recipe.

This was fantastic! I did make a few changes though after reading the reviews. I used regular graham crackers instead of chocolate and because of what I had on hand I used 1 regular block of cream cheese, a block of 1/3 less fat, and 1/2 block of fat free. Also due to time constraints, I used four eggs instead of 3 eggs and 2 egg whites. I also used sugar free raspberry preserves in place of the liquor. The next time I make this I will cut the cranberry mixture in half, but otherwise LOVED it! The cake turned out so pretty and absolutely perfect. I also used a 9 in springfoam pan and used a deep dish pizza pan for the water bath and it worked beautifully. I plan on modifying this recipe from here on out to make different flavors it was so good! Oh, and I also had to bake it almost twice as long as the directions stated.

Followed directions exactly with the exception of putting 9 inch springform pan in 13x9 in baking pan- used roasting pan instead, as it's the only thing I had that would fit! Had to bake about 20 mins longer. Crust was soggy. Texture was too light and fluffy for my tastes. Family like it, though.

I made this for Christmas Eve and I thought it was delicious! Light and fluffy, and the cranberry really added punch. Only change I would make in the future: I did not love the crust. It could have benefited from some sugar. Otherwise, very very good!

I made this for Christmas Eve and it is sooo good, light and creamy. I made half the recipe (for 5 of us) and put it in a 7" springform. I used regular graham cracker crumbs not chocolate and all neufatchel cheese. The cranberry swirl mixture makes way more than needed and can probably be halved.

This is an outstanding recipe, one of the best I've made. It got raves when I served it and astonishment that it was so low cal.

I made this for a potluck dinner. The flavor was amazing! I didn't have Chambord, so I used raspberry preserves instead. Everyone said the cheesecake tasted great. This is definitely a fluffy cheesecake and the texture was quite soft. I cooked it for an extra 5 minutes, but probably should've cooked longer. The cheesecake sat out for a while at the dinner and I think the texture would've been better right out of the refrigerator.

The measurements have to be off. This took double the amount of time stated. The taste was good but the texture was awful. The swirl was awesome I would use the swirl with another cheesecake recipe. This one ended up in the trash can.

Made this for a weekly football gathering. Big thumbs up by everyone. I will definitely keep this recipe and make it again.

I would make this again, especially for the Thanksgiving-Christmas season. I would not use the chocolate crust again--it was one too many flavors for this desert. This has a much lighter texture than most cheesecakes, even for CL. Like most, I had to bake this for much longer than the recipe stated.

This cheesecake looks beautiful when finished and tastes delicious! My first time making a cheesecake.

Everyone raved about it at Thanksgiving and it was the only dessert that didn't come home with us because everyone else wanted some. They all said you couldn't tell that it was lowfat...being the cheesecake lover that I am I could tell that it was lowfat...but it was so good it didn't even matter. The only trouble I had is that a 9-inch springform pan WILL NOT fit into a 9x13 baking pan, so we had to improvise. I think the crust turned out a little soggy because of that. I will be making this again for Christmas (different people to try it out on).

What a geat end to a great meal! Very satisfying - you would never guess it was made with lght cheeses. This could b a new holida tradition!

I made this for a Thanksgiving Dinner dessert....it was wonderful...everyone enjoyed it. I will be making this again during the holidays this year.

Smooth, decadent and delicious! Followed the recipe exactly except for the baking time-I needed to bake at least 20 extra minutes (hard to tell when done). Also I didn't use all of the cranberry topping - only about half-maybe that's why some have had issues with it sinking? Some important points to consider prior to baking...I recommend using an 8-inch pan since a 9-inch springform pan doesn't fit into a 9x13 pan for a water bath. I had to improvise and use an 11x14 sheet pan and think the cracks in my cheesecake were due to this since the bath couldn't be as deep. Cooling the cake longer in the oven next time may help with this also. Worth the time and effort for sure!

I made this for Thanksgiving and it was delicious. There were 4 things that have dissuaded me from making this again though. 1) lots of steps - it took more than 3 hours to complete, 2) Cost- I did not buy the raspberry liquor - it was $18 at Safeway. Instead, I used 3/4 of a teaspoon of raspberry extract and put 1/4 C more of sugar in the cranberry mixture. It was delicious, 3) it took 15 more minutes to cook than listed in the directions. Partly, this was my fault. I did not put HOT water in the pan with the cake - that surely slowed things down, and 4) I like dense thick cheesecake - this was too light. I have a much simpler recipe using the 1/3 less calorie neufchatel cheese that is dense. I will use the cranberry mixture at holidays on top of my simpler recipe.

I followed the directions exactly and except for it taking much longer to cook than stated in the recipe, it turned out beautifully. I will definitely make it again.

I only had to bake for 5 minutes longer than stated. My cheesecake came out VERY tasty...my husband could not eat enough! In the future, I will make sure to take the foil off of the pan as soon as I take it out of the oven because the water leaked into the foil and leaving the foil on while it cooled caused water to leak into the pan and onto the crust. Even with a slightly moist crust, it was still great. I did not notice any problems with the cranberry leaking to the bottom of the cheesecake; all of it stayed right on top and created beautiful slices when served.

This cheesecake was light, tangy and delicious! I used Drambuie instead of Chambard, but followed the recipe other than that. It cooked in 50 minutes and only had a small crack in the crust. I did allow the eggs and cheese to warm a bit before I used them. I will definitely be making it again. I used extra wide tin foil to wrap the spring form pan in.

Delicious and beautiful cheesecake. Used sour cream instead of greek yogurt and orange juice instead of liquor. Baked exactly as directed and the cheesecake turned out great! It has a velvety texture unlike normal cheesecake. I guess it's from the water bath. If you like more body to your cheesecake, you may want to bake it without the water.

I had the same issue with having to bake the cheesecake longer. The recipe states 50 minutes so that's what I did, then cooled it in the oven and it was still quite jiggly. So I popped it back in for 20 more minutes which did the trick. A beautiful holiday dessert, though!

tastes great but some major flaws Including cooking time which I had to more than double so it cracked on the side also the cranberry did not sit on top but sunk into the cake (most likely due to how long it was sitting on top of a raw cheesecake) Wondering how it could be fixed... I also want to add that a friend of mine made this recipe and had the same issue with cooking time plus more issues. We are both people who bake on a regular basis and are good at it.

I made this yesterday and served to very positive reviews. The cheesecake was good and the addition of the cranberry swirl was excellent. I am sure I will be making this again during the holidays!