Blueberry Cheesecake with Blueberry Compote Topping

World Cup is over - the final match was on the 13th of July, Sunday! Our favorite team lost in the Finals. The husband's (favorite team) jersey arrived exactly one day after the Finals - I could not help but laugh at irony of it! Reminded me of a spectator's poster that has been making rounds on the net - "Flights to Rio - £1200... Enjoying the ambience - £2000... Accommodation -"£2000... Arriving after (favorite team's) elimination - Priceless!!"
I guess the best part of Sunday was all the food we ate! We had a potluck (just appetizers and desserts) at our home and there was loads and loads of food. So much food that we started eating around 3 pm and went on eating till 10pm.
I had made this Blueberry Cheesecake cake for the potluck, along with a Chocolate Cake with Mocha Whipped Cream Frosting and Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting. For appetizers, I had made Fish Croquettes (Machh er chop) and Buffalo Chicken Wings.

If you have been following my posts, you will know that we went berry picking couple of weeks back and had brought back almost 2 lbs of blueberries. I used up the last one and a half cups in making this cheesecake.
I found the recipe on tasteofhome - it was truly a winner of a recipe! I stuck to the recipe for the better part - I added a little more butter to the crust and I added a blueberry compote topping.
Ingredients:

For the Blueberry Swirl Filling ~

• Blueberries - 1 1/2 Cups, fresh (you can use frozen as well)
• Sugar - 1/4 Cup
• Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp, freshly squeezed
• Cornstarch - 2 tsp
• Cold Water - 1 tbsp

For the Crust ~

•  Graham Cracker Crumbs - 1 Cup 
• Sugar - 2 tbsp
• Butter - 5 tbsp, melted

 For the Cheesecake Filling ~

• Cream Cheese - 3 packages, at room temperature
• Sour Cream - 1 Cup
• Sugar - 1 Cup
• Flour - 2 tbsp
• Vanilla Extract - 2 tsp
• Eggs - 4, large at room temperature. 

 For the Compote (you can skip this) ~

• Blueberries - 1 Cup (I used frozen as I had run out of fresh)
• Sugar - 1/4 Cup
• Lemon Zest - 1 tsp
• Lemon Juice - 1/2 tbsp
• Cornstarch - 2 tsp
• Cold Water - 2 tbsp

Blueberry Filling: In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook the blueberries, lemon juice and sugar together till the blueberries soften. Stir from time to time. Whisk the water and cornstarch together in a separate bowl and add the mixture to the blueberry mix. Give it a quick stir. Bring it to a boil and once the sauce thickens, take it off the heat and let it cool down completely. Then blend it in a food processor/mixer until smooth. Set aside.

Crust: For the crust, mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Spread the mixture out on the bottom of a greased springform pan. Using your fingers or the back of a spoon, press it down firmly. Bake for 10 minutes in an oven preheated to 350F. Cool and keep aside. 

Cream Cheese Filling: In your processor or using your electric mixer, cream together the softened cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour, sour cream and vanilla extract. Add the eggs one by one and beat on low speed till just incorporated. 

Preheat oven to 350F. Pour the filling into the springform pan. Drizzle the blueberry compote on the cream cheese filling and cut it in using a knife or a spatula to give it a swirl effect. Bake at 350F for 60-65 minutes or till the middle is almost set.

To ensure that the cheesecake remains moist and does not crack just put a pan full of hot water in the lower rack of your oven and bake the cheesecake on the upper rack. Since there is a chance that the springform pan might leak, it is better not to put the pan directly on a larger pan full of water. To check if it is done, give the pan a gentle wiggle. If it is firm at the edges and a little jiggly in the middle - it is about done and will nicely set up in the refrigerator. Even though it is tempting, do not keep opening the oven door to check on the cheesecake as this will bring the temperature down and result in a cracked top!

Blueberry Compote: While your cheesecake is baking, heat up a saucepan on medium heat and cook the blueberries, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice till the blueberries starts getting mushy. Add the cornstarch mixed with water and bring it to a boil. Take off heat once it starts thickening. This is almost similar to the blueberry filling. Cool completely. 

Once done, take out the cheesecake from the oven and let it cool for 10 or 15 minutes. Run a knife along the side to loosen it up. Pour and spread the compote on the top. Let the cheesecake cool down completely before sticking it into the refrigerator. Chill for at least an hour before serving. I had chilled it overnight. Took a hurried picture before the guests arrived for the potluck. I actually had no plans of posting this recipe. But it turned out so wonderfully awesome that I just had to. Thankfully nobody asked why a slice was already cut when I served the cheesecake.