Here's the recipe for my wife's habanero-lime cheesecake (might as well milk this one more time). Too hot for your mother I'm sure, but you can make her a lime cheesecake (which is also quite good) simply by leaving the habaneros out of the recipe. Cream cheese is just fine for cheesecakes. David "Zeb" Cook Habanero-Lime Cheesecake (Since my wife cooks by taste and eye, and every time she makes it she fiddles with the recipe, some of these measurements are a bit of a guess.) Crust: 1-2 cups Wheatmeal biscuits (or graham crackers), ground to crumbs Melted butter Pinch of salt Filling: 24 oz. cream cheese 2 T. heavy cream Zest of 1 lime Juice of about 1 - 2 limes Pinch of salt 4 large eggs 1 cup of sugar 3 habaneros 2 T. sugar Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Set an rack in the middle of the oven. Place a baking pan on a rack below this. Boil a kettle of water. Mix the crumbs and salt together, then add butter to make the mixture hold together but remain slightly crumbly. Set aside 1/4 cup for topping and press the rest into the bottom and sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Set aside. Roast the habaneros over an open flame and set them to steam under a towel. When cool enough to handle, peel and deseed. (The usual warnings about fans, maybe even gloves, goes here.) Pound in a mortar with 2 T. sugar until you have a coarse paste. Cream the cream cheese, then add the sugar and salt. Beat in the eggs one at a time until incorporated. Add the cream. Beat the zest and lime juice into the filling. Add the habanero paste last and beat until well mixed. Pour into the crust. Gently tap the pan to level out the filling. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs over the top. Pour the boiling water into the pan in the oven and put the cheesecake on the rack above it. Bake for approximately 1 hour or until the cheesecake pulls away from the edge of the pan. Remove from the oven and let set for 20 minutes. Wrap and place in the freezer for 2-3 hours or keep in the refrigerator overnight. Garnish with slices of lime and a whole habanero in the center. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Emile & Dewi" <e.steenbrink@worldonline.nl> To: "Chile Heads" <chile-heads@globalgarden.com> Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2001 4:56 AM Subject: [CH] chile cheesecake? > Hey dear podpeople, > > Hope everyone is doing well. > > I want to ask you guys if anyone has a good recipe for cheesecake. My mom > loves cheesecake and I want to surprise her one day with a nice cheesecake. > She's not really a CH so if possible recipes without chiles for her and with > for me, please. Oh and since we live in the Netherlands I have no idea what > 'cheese' goes into cheesecake but we do have Philadelphia cream cheese here. > Thanks in advance. > > My Christmas tree has chiles in it. Cool huh! I'll take a picture and post > it on my site. > > Well everyone, take care and have a nice christmas. > > XXX Miss Dewi > > CH#2192 > http://www.chilechick.tmfweb.nl >