Sweet Avocado Cheesecake with Pomegranates & Walnut Crust

My sister had just had a baby … she was in the hospital recovering and I get a text message from her at 5:38 am the next morning:

“For ur blog: avocado cheesecake. Saw in magazine. Looked wonderful.”

I know they keep you awake at ungodly hours in the hospital, but at 5:38 am she is thinking about cheesecake?

I set down my phone and went back to sleep … But when I woke up, I realized that my baby sister just had a baby … and she wants cheesecake … so I did what any good sister does … I drove to see her this weekend and made her cheesecake.

Actually, I didn’t make the cheesecake. I had several helpers. Baby’s older brother and sisters were lining up chairs in the kitchen to help me make it. There was barely room for me!

Our pretty green cheesecake turned out kind of messy and soft … it took a long time to set up and we had a hard time waiting for it. I think it didn’t set quite firmly enough because I didn’t get all the gelatin in there. I noticed it later when I was cleaning up … some of the gelatin got stuck in the spoon, some had stuck in the bowl I had mixed it in. If you make this cheesecake, make sure you put all the gelatin in, or if you can’t quite get it all out of the bowl, then cut back on the amount of milk. It doesn’t need to be QUITE that soft.

If you were worried about putting avocado in cheesecake, you really needn’t have bothered. The avocado lends such a lovely creamy texture. It might sound a little odd, but when you taste it, you will think it’s marvelous. It is creamy and sweet and delicious.

Sweet Avocado Cheesecake with Pomegranates & Walnut Crust

Adapted from The Amazing Avocado

Crust:

• 3/4 cup ground walnuts
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 tablespoons light butter

Filling:

• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
•  1 1/2 cups skim milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 fully ripened Avocados
• 4 ounces fat-free cream cheese
• 4 ounces light cream cheese
• 1/8 cup lime juice

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F.  In food processor, pulse walnuts until finely ground. Add graham cracker crumbs and sugar; pulse just until combined. Add butter and water; pulse until ingredients are thoroughly combined and resemble wet sand. Press into bottom of an 8 1/2-inch springform pan. I found I had plenty of crust mixture to fill two smaller pans: a medium sized (7 1/2 inch?) and a little 5-inch springform pan.

Bake 20 minutes; cool completely.

I used the larger of the two pans for this cheesecake … and saved the little one for another purpose.

Now for the sweet avocado cheesecake filling:

1. In a measuring cup or small bowl, combine gelatin with 2 tablespoons water; let stand for 5 minutes.
2. In a saucepan, heat the milk, 1/2 cup sugar, and vanilla until good and hot. Add gelatin; simmer until gelatin has completely dissolved, about 1 minute.
3. In food processor or blender, combine avocados, cream cheese, lime juice and milk mixture until smooth.
4. Pour into baked crust (it was enough to fill a 7 1/2 inch pan–if you want a larger cheesecake, you may want to make more filling); cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or until set. (for us it took much longer than 2 hours … really it wasn’t ready till the next morning …)
5. Remove side of pan; cut cheesecake into 10 slices. Serve with pomegranate seeds and chopped mangoes or drizzle with raspberry sauce, if desired.

Cover and refrigerate any leftovers. The top will likely discolor a bit from the avocado. Don’t get too worried about that … it’s normal and won’t affect the flavor.

This recipe was shared at Trick or Treat Tuesdays, Katherine Martinelli’s Mango Bloghop and It’s a Keeper Thursdays.