Week 9: Piña Colada Cheesecake

Week 9 marks the halfway point of the cheesecake experiment!  The piña colada cheesecake is by far my favorite cheesecake so far :)  The cheesecake turned out so light and fluffy, you wouldn't guess that four blocks of cream cheese are used in this recipe.  The cheesecake was also a hit with my co-workers and friends who sampled it a few days ago. 

Here is the adapted version of George Geary's Piña Colada Cheesecake recipe:

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup flaked coconut
3 tbsp melted butter

1 20 oz can pineapple diced
3 tbsp packed light brown sugar
4 packages cream cheese softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tsp vanilla (you can replace one of the tsp vanilla with tsp rum)

whipped cream topping
1/4 cup flaked coconut toasted

In a bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup flaked coconut and 3tbsp melted butter.  Press into bottom of cheesecake pan and freeze.
In a saucepan, cooke pineapple and light brown sugar on medium heat until soft and syrupy (about 3 min).  Let mixture sit for 10 minutes, then drain the syrup from the mixture.  In a large bowl, beat the 4 packages cream cheese, granulated sugar and flour on medium-high speed for 3 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating each egg into the mixture before adding the next egg.  Mix in the coconut milk and vanilla.  Pour half of the batter into the prepared cheesecake pan.  Arrange the pineapple mixture on top and pour the remaining batter on top of the pineapple mixture.  Bake for 45-55 minutes in a 350 degree oven or until the top is a light brown (mine actually took about a full hour to bake, but our oven is on the fritz).  Cool for two hours and then refrigerate for 6 hours.  When done, decorate with homeade whipped topping and toasted coconut flakes.  To toast the coconut flakes, I spread out the flakes on a baking sheet and toasted for 6 minutes in a 300 degree oven.