Candy Cane Marbled Cheesecake

I was kind of bored today. I wanted to make a cheesecake, but I could not find a decent enough recipe for one.

Yesterday, I had bought a bag of Hersheys Peppermint Kisses. I was eating a couple while looking at cookbooks. Then on the bag, I noticed a recipe for a Candy Cane Cheesecake made with these Kisses. It looked like a really good recipe, so I decided to make it and share the recipe with you.

This is not my own recipe. It is Hersheys, with a couple small changes by me.

Ok, to start making this cheesecake, you need to gather the ingredients:

Crust
- 10 graham crackers
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup butter, melted

Cheescake
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 8-oz packages softened cream cheese (you can do this by leaving them out on the
        counter, or by microwaving each for about 30 seconds)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 45 Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses, unwrapped
- 2 tbsp milk

(Not pictured: vanilla, sugar, and butter. I hope I can safely assume that you know what they are)

Making the crust is the easiest part of this recipe.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Crush the graham crackers into small crumbs. You can do this by putting them in a bag and rolling over them with a rolling pin. I did it by using a food processor, which gets the job done nice and quick.

Now mix the sugar and butter into it, and press it into a springform pan, across the bottom and a half inch up the sides.

Set it aside for now.

Now onto the filling.

Start by creaming the sugar, vanilla and cream cheese until smooth (by the way, it tastes really good at this point. Go ahead and try a lick). Mix the eggs in one at a time, blending well after each one. Pour all but 1/4 cup of this batter into the prepared crust.

Place the milk and Kisses in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat for 1 minute on 50% power. Stir, and microwave again for 30 seconds on 50% power, and stir again. Repeat this until the Kisses melt and become about the same consistency as the batter.

Mix the melted candies into the remaining batter thoroughly. Drop this mixture by spoonfuls onto the regular batter. Marblize it by dragging a knife through it (you can choose the up-and-down pattern, or a circular pattern, just as long as it marblizes into it). Do not overmarblize the batters, otherwise it'll just end up looking like a solid pink peppermint cheescake.
 

Bake the cheesecake for 45-50 mins. You'll want to pull it when it seems solid enough, but the middle is still kind of jiggly (The heat from the pan will cook it the rest of the way outside the oven).

Separate the cake from the pan sides with a knife when you pull it out, then let it cool competely. Remove the pan sides, and then put it in the refrigerator until chilled.

Now it is nice and ready to eat!

Heres a serving tip: on a slice, put a small dollop of whipped cream on it, topped with another Kiss or a peppermint candy.

Enjoy!