#Greatfruitgrapefruit

If you can believe it, we have been doing our seasonal ingredient instagram collaborations for almost two years! It is such a wonderful way to get inspired in what can sometimes be the "work" of creating content, engaging in social media, and blogging. No matter how busy we get, these collaborations with Annie at @whatannieseating and all our instagram friends is something we look forward to. Winter is always tricky and now even trickier for us as we live in a true winter climate. No California produce at Wholefoods or the farmer market. We have to engage with what we have at our local market, as we watch snow fall and temperatures drop. Besides needing some Vitamin C, and a little acidic punch in our lives, we just happen to love Grapefruit. It is not your grandma's diet fruit, it is sweet, complex, acidic and lends itself to many preparations. We love picking an ingredient that can go many directions, savory, sweet, cocktails, you name it, grapefruit can do it. 

While I know many of you thought we would do a pie, as we have just launched a new pie business, Piedaho Bakery, we decided that grapefruit needed to be worked into a favorite dessert we haven't made in forever! Cheesecake! Initially i was concerned that the fruit would be too tart, but we used some Texas Pink Grapefruit and the combination with the sweet nilla wafers in the crust, and the creamy cheese was dynamite. If cheesecake can be called refreshing, this one would wear that label proudly. Be sure to check out the hashtag, #greatfruitgrapefruit and get inspired to cook and bake with grapefruit!!!

Pink Grapefruit Cheesecake
Makes 1 10 inch cake

2 1/2 cups crushed Nilla wafers
5 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt

38 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
5 eggs
2 egg yolks
zest and juice from 1 pink grapefruit (about 1/4 cup of juice and 1 tablespoon of zest)
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
a few slices of grapefruit for garnish

Preheat oven to 325. Grease a 10 inch springform pan, then wrap the outside with foil. In a a bowl add the crushed cookies, melted butter and sugar and salt and stir. Then, press evenly into prepared pan. You want the crust to go up the sides about 1/2 inch or so. Bake for 8 minutes and then cool.

In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the sugar and flour gradually, beating well after each addition. Beat until smooth. Add the eggs one and a time, beating well after each,  then add the juice, zest and Vanilla on low speed. You don't want to mix too much air into your batter. Pour into crust and place on baking sheet. Bake at 325 for about 70 minutes until cake is set and center is still jiggly. Your cake will keep cooking when you remove it. When you remove it from the oven, gently run a knife around the edge of the pan to help prevent cake from sinking. Cool for 2 hours then chill over night. 

When ready to serve, remove from springform pan and garnish with some slices of grapefruit.  

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