Peanut Butter and Jelly is a staple in most children’s diets. In fact, I just read that Americans will consume billions, with a B, of sandwiches every year. I can believe it, since my kids picked it for lunch 9 out of 10 times, until very recently.
I’ve gone through what must be 100s of pounds of peanut butter and even more jelly. They’re certainly easy to make, which saved me lots of time in the mornings before school, but I felt a little guilty packing it for them EVERY day. I mostly dreaded other parents finding out that my kids ate the same thing over and over. In my head I wanted them to eat bento boxes, with carved vegetables and seaweed salad, but, it was their lunch, their choice and they loved PB&J. The truth is that I love it too; almost everyone does, if we’re honest. Here’s a peanut butter and jelly cheesecake that has all the fond memories of those childhood sandwiches, but it’s way more decadent and sophisticated.
Once in a while I find a new product that changes the way I cook and bake. I felt this way about the Silpat and the Microplane Grater
The pan is fantastic, but took some getting used to, because it is transparent and flexible. It has a pin (the black tab) that slides in and out to seal the pan to the base. You’ll see a better picture of the pin later in the post.
How to Make Peanut Butter and Jelly Cheesecake
See me make it step by step and find the full recipe at the bottom of this post.
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
In a food processor pulverize the Oreos, butter, sugar and salt.
Pour into the pan and pat flat with your finger tips, bringing the oreo crumbs up the sides slightly. Bake the crust for about 10 minutes or until set.
In a stand mixer, fitted with the Beater Blade, mix the cream cheese on low speed, scraping down the sides to make sure it is all smooth. Add the sugar and sour cream.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Add the salt and vanilla.
Split the batter into two bowls. Add the peanut butter to one bowl and add the jelly to the second.
Place the pan on a baking sheet. Spread the peanut butter batter over the oreo crust, smoothing out the top.
Very carefully add the jelly batter over the peanut butter batter.
Place the cheese cake in the center of the oven. Place a second baking sheet on a lower shelf and fill it with water. The water will create steam in the oven and prevent the cheese cake from developing a hard crust. Bake for about 60 minutes or until set in the center. The top will souffle slightly. Allow the cheesecake to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 4 hours. After one hour in the refrigerate, loosely cover with plastic.
Carefully run a thin bladed knife around the edge of the pan. Pull out the pin.
Unmold the cake from the pan.
To make the ganache:
In a saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate and butter. Allow to sit for 2 minutes, then stir gently, until totally smooth.
Place the cheesecake on a cooling rack that is sitting above a baking sheet, lined with parchment. This will catch the excess ganache.
This video shows you how to make the ganache, pour it over a cake and decorate the sides.
Let the cake sit on the rack until the ganache has set up, about 45 minutes.
To decorate the sides see the above video.
Use a thin Bread Knife
When you cut into it, the peanut butter and jelly layers will reveal themselves.
Ingredients
Crust
- 20 whole Oreos
- 3 tbsp butter melted
- 2 tbsp sugar
- Pinch salt
Cheesecake
- 2 1/2 lbs cream cheese room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 5 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla make homemade vanilla
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup jelly if you are using one that is pale, you may consider a drop of food coloring to perk up the color
Ganache
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 lb semisweet or bittersweet chocolate finely chopped
Instructions
Make the Cheesecake
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- In a food processor pulverize the Oreos, butter, sugar and salt. Pour into the pan and pat flat with your finger tips, bringing the Oreo crumbs up the sides slightly. Bake the crust for about 10 minutes or until set.
- In a stand mixer, fitted with the Beater Blade, mix the cream cheese on low speed, scraping down the sides to make sure it is all smooth. Add the sugar and sour cream. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Add the salt and vanilla.
- Split the batter into two bowls. Add the peanut butter to one bowl and add the jelly to the second. Place the pan on a baking sheet. Spread the peanut butter batter over the oreo crust, smoothing out the top. Very carefully add the jelly batter over the peanut butter batter.
- Place the cheesecake in the center of the oven. Place a second baking sheet on a lower shelf and fill it with water. The water will create steam in the oven and prevent the cheese cake from developing a hard crust. Bake for about 60 minutes or until set in the center. The top will souffle slightly. Allow the cheesecake to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 4 hours. After one hour in the refrigerate, loosely cover with plastic.
- Carefully run a thin bladed knife around the edge of the pan. Pull out the pin. Unmold the cake from the pan.
Make the Ganache
- In a saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate and butter. Allow to sit for 2 minutes, then stir gently, until totally smooth.
Pour the Ganache
- Place the cheesecake on a cooling rack that is sitting above a baking sheet, lined with parchment. This will catch the excess ganache.
- This video shows you how to make the ganache, pour it over a cake and decorate the sides. Let the cake sit on the rack until the ganache has set up, about 45 minutes.
- Use a thin Bread Knife, dipped in a pitcher of hot water to cut the cake. When you cut into it, the peanut butter and jelly layers will reveal themselves.
I will definitely make the PBJ cheesecake. Yum – looks great.
There is a chocolate mint cheesecake doing battle with a vanilla caramel cheesecake. The winner will meet its fate on the end of my fork. And, Z, may I just say that this springform is a TOOL, not a toy! TOOLS are necessary! Toys are frivolous. This a TOOL! WANT!!
A
I would bake this cheesecake for my husband’s birthday
Not gonna lie…cheesecake. Only cheesecake. Brownie cheesecake, Raspberry cheesecake…yum!
Definitely ready to try a new product; I would bake Florentine Cheesecake in my new pan. Thanks for the chance to win. Finger’s crossed!!
I’ve been itching to make cheesecake again–my springform pans got lost when I moved last and I haven’t replaced them yet!
Cheesecake of course! Starting with this one.
I would make a savory salmon cheesecake.
I’d start by making my REAL NY cheesecake with a cookie crust – any cheesecake with a graham cracker crust may be delicious, but it is NOT an authentic NY cheesecake!
If I won the Leuke Silicone Springform Pan I would definitely bake this Pb&J Cheesecake you posted; what’s not to love about the perfect combo of Pb&J? I would also want to make this wonderful looking Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake (http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2012/10/cinnamon-roll-cheesecake.html).
I’d probably make a cheesecake.
I’d bake a New York style cheesecake
I would use it for cheesecakes. This cheesecake recipe is definitely on my list to try.
I’ll start by making your cake. I’ve been needing an excuse
To make ganache and now I’ll have one.
Well, cheesecake, of course, but I think many fruit upside down cakes would do well in that pan too….
Cheesecake, cheesecake, cheesecake!
What a perfectly stunning cake, Zoe! Wow! And perfect ganache! I grew up eating pb & j sandwiches all the time and well on into adulthood, only stopping when I moved to France (no grape jelly and it was years before I could buy a jar of Skippy at a reasonable price). But oddly enough, my (French) sons won’t eat them. This gorgeous cheesecake, on the other hand, would be so much easier to get them to eat. This silicone springform pan is strange and wonderful…. fascinating! What would I bake in it? A flourless chocolate cake or I’ll repeat my chocolate-chestnut fondant but adding Cointreau and orange zest to it this time.
btw I will be in the US at my mom’s in April! And hoping I’ll see you at IACP SF!
I don’t live in the US, but I love your desserts. They look beautiful and very doable.
R
This baking pan looks fantastic. I would love to make a flourless chocolate cake. Love your blog!
I would go for it, and try your recipe for this lovely PB & J cheesecake
Hi Zoe, I would try making a baked apple dessert that is much like a deep dish apple pie. The recipe comes from a Junior League cookbook. The last time I made the recipe, the ingredients seeped through the crust and out of my springform pan…huge mess! This pan might just be the answer.
The real question is what wouldn’t I bake in it lol. I would start with a chocolate mousse cheesecake with ganache recipe that I found on pinterest awhile back. Oh do I miss it. And then I would have to make follow it up with this PB&J Cheesecake. It sounds so yummy!
Ooey Gooey Butter Cake!
This cheesecake looks SO decadent and delicious! I know if I made it for my boyfriend he would swoon – I’m thinking it might be just the ticket for Valentine’s Day. The other day I was thinking of making this Orange-Almond Cake (http://www.marthastewart.com/343647/orange-almond-cake) to use up all the extra navel oranges I bought on sale, but then I realized I had no springform pan to bake it in! I would be a very happy camper if I won and then I could bake both cakes!