Cinnamon cheescake with Dutch stewed pears & a speculoos base

Autumn & winter aren't my favorite seasons. I don't like the cold. I don't like the darkness & the gloomy atmosphere that comes with it. But I do love the food. It's comforting & traditional. The smells & tastes bring me back to my youth, when life was simple. And the food is just as simple. 

This cheesecake combines the best of autumn & winter: cinnamon, speculoos cookies (or as we call it speculaas) and typically Dutch stewed pears. Whenever I make them, i think of my grandma, who made them for us when we came for dinner and they always tasted so delicious. She was so good at them. They make me smile & this cheesecake will warm your heart & tickle your tastebuds as well. 

I did not invent this recipe, it's someone else's clever & delicious invention. I altered a bit of the recipe to my grandma's way of making the stewed pears (with port wine, you cannot do without!!) and a gluten free base with my "kruidnootjes" dough as base. Here's my gluten free version:

It might not look all that pretty, but it makes up for it in taste

Ingredients:

Stewed pears

• 4-5 Gieser Wildeman pears
• 350 ml (12 fl oz) water
• 2 tablespoons of granulated vanilla sugar
• 1 cinnamonstick
• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 star anise
• 1.5 glass of port wine

For the gluten free speculoos base

• 25 grams (1 oz) of soft butter
• 125 gram (4,5 oz) of dark caster sugar 
• 8 grams (0.25 oz) of vanilla sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar
• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of gluten free buckwheat flour
• 200 grams (7 oz) of gluten free cookie flour (I used Shar's C mix)
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon powder
• 2 tablespoons of gluten free mixed spice/speculoos spices (a mixture of ground cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, kardemom & orange peels) 

For the Cheesecake

• 400 grams (14 oz) of cream cheese (I used Dutch Mon Chou cream cheese)
• 250 grams (9 oz) of cottage cheese 
• 125 grams (4,5 oz) of granulated sugar
• 8 grams (0.25 oz) of vanilla sugar 
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon 
• 1 tablespoon of mixed spice/speculoos spices 
• 1 vanilla bean

How to make the stewed pears:

It's best to make them the night before so they are cold when used in the cake. 

• Scrape the vanilla from the bean'pod and put in a separate bowl. 
• Put the water, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla bean and star anise in a small saucepan. Stir so that the juice absorbs the sugar. 
• Peel the pears, slice them in quarters and remove the core. Add them to the pan. Place the pan over medium heat and bring to a boil. 
• Reduce heat to low, cover the pan and cook the pears for about 1 hour. Then add the port wine & cook for another 30 minutes. 
• Turn off the heat and let the pears cool in the pan with the lid on, outside of the refrigerator.

How to make the cake:

You start with the dough for the speculoos base:

• Beat the butter with the sugar until creamy. 
• Beat in the egg.
• Then add the mixed spice/speculoos spice, cinnamon, xanthan gum, salt, cream of tartar and all of the gluten-free flour and kneed the dough (using a mixer) into a firm ball. 
• Put this, covered with foil, in the refrigerator for an hour.
• Line a spring baking tin with baking parchment and butter the sides. 
• Roll out the dough on a clean surface and line the baking tin with it. Put it in the fridge.
• Preheat the oven to 175 degrees centigrade / 350 degrees fahrenheit.

Now make the cheesecake filling as follows:

• Mix the cream cheese, cottage cheese, sugar, cinnamon, mixed spices and vanilla until you have a smooth mixture. 
• Fold in the eggs one at a time. 
• Remove the tin from the fridge and pour the mixture onto the crust. 
• Put the pears on top. 
• Bake the cake about 1 hour in the preheated oven. 
• The cake should have a beautiful golden color and there should be no more moisture to be seen. 
• Allow the cake to cool for at least three hours on a wire rack before you serve it. 

Enjoy!

Ps. next time I'm making this cheesecake, I'll chop up some 1 extra stewed pear and mix it through the cheesecake mixture. That would make it even more fabulous!!