We just love a good huckleberry cheesecake and ever since we’ve had a cabin in Idaho, we’ve became avid (and greedy) huckleberry pickers! It’s a great way to while away a couple of hours, while filling a bag full of these wild and delicious berries. It’s so peaceful sitting right in the middle of nature and it’s like a personal challenge to pick every, single berry you can see. If it’s a bountiful year, you really don’t cover much more than six feet or so in a couple of hours!
Near our patch there is a year round stream, so you have the lovely sound of a babbling brook to entertain you. We just sit right down in the middle of the bushes and gather as many as we can for a few hours at a time. This year we had a big haul … nearly 11 pounds, which is the most we’ve ever gotten! This is why we will be sharing a few huckleberry recipes over the next week or two!
Our Other Huckleberry Recipes
We have huckleberry scones, huckleberry goat cheese pancakes, huckleberry milkshakes and and huckleberry jam (some with jalapeno) all in store for you, so be on the lookout if you’re an avid huckleberry fan! And, if you’re not, or you don’t have access to them, nearly all of these recipes can be made with blueberries or blackberries as a substitute to the huckleberries.
Huckleberry Cheesecake
For this huckleberry cheesecake, we make a basic cheesecake recipe in a 9×13 baking dish on a graham cracker crust. We always include that nice creamy vanilla sour cream topping, only we use nonfat plain Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream. Then we top it with huckleberry compote – huckleberries and sugar cooked down to a beautiful thick, jammy topping. Be sure to make your cheesecake at least six hours before serving, so it has time to chill. It’s even better if you can make it a day ahead of time, and you can easily make it several days ahead and cover it with plastic wrap in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve it.
Freezing the Cheesecake?
Can you freeze this cheesecake? We think so! This last time we made it, there were a couple pieces leftover and we accidentally put them in the freezer, and they came out beautifully, so I’m inclined to say you could even make this recipe ahead and freeze the whole thing, though we’ve not tried that yet!
Some of our other favorite cheesecake recipes …
Some of our favorite cheesecakes include: Mocha Cheesecake, Goat Cheese Cheesecake, Cheesecake on Pecan & Graham Cracker Crust, Pumpkin Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Caramel Drizzle and even a savory one, Smoked Salmon Cheesecake! If you love cheesecake, we’re on your team!
Huckleberry Cheesecake
Equipment
- 1 9×13 baking dish
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
Cheesecake Filling
- 3 8-oz. packages cream cheese, softened to room temp
- 2 large eggs, at room temp
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp. lemon juice
Creamy Yogurt Topping
- 2 cups nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- 3 tbsp. light brown sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Huckleberry Compote Topping
- 4 cups huckleberries (can also use blueberries, blackberries or raspberries)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp. cornstarch
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
Instructions
Graham Cracker Crust
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9×13 glass baking dish. Set aside.
- Mix melted butter, sugar, and graham cracker crumbs in a bowl until well integrated. Pour into the prepared pan and spread out evenly to cover the bottom of the pan. Press down with a flat spatula or offset spatula to flatten. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Meanwhile, make filling and compote.
Cheesecake Filling
- Beat cream cheese wiht an electric beater until creamy. Add sugar and beat well. Add eggs, one at a time, and continue to beat just until well blended. Stir in vanilla and lemon juice.
- Pour filling mixture over cooled crust and spread out evenly. Bake at 350℉ for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.
Creamy Yogurt Topping
- Once cheesecake is completely cool, preheat oven to 400 ℉. Blend yogurt, sugar and vanilla and spread evenly over cheesecake. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Once cooled, refrigerate for at least several hours to allow the cake to set up. When ready to serve, spoon berry compote over the top and cut into serving pieces.
Huckleberry Compote
- Place berries along with sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan. Whisk cornstarch with warm water and pour over berries. Bring to a boil, and continue on a low boil until mixture is thickened, approximately 10 minutes or so. Once mixture is thick, remove from oven and cool completely before spreading over chilled cheesecake.
