Drunken Cherry Cheesecake is a delightful chocolate whipped dessert with marinated vanilla vodka cherries.
Eat one. Cut one. Eat one. Cut one.
I can't even give you the exact measurements to this recipe as these cherries were so sweet and delicious that there might have been a slight escape during the inventory management process.
I have the perfect dessert recipe for Father's Day and you don't even have to turn on the oven. I marinated these super sweet cherries in a tantalizing bath of vanilla flavored vodka. I plated my drunken cherries in a vodka glass tucked between layers of my super easy cocoa cheesecake and topped them off with a bit of whipped topping and a cherry garnish.
This is one dish that makes you lick the spoon during the assembly process for quality assurances processes, of course! Drunken Cherry cheesecake is gluten free, egg free and can be made in advance of your gathering in less than 30 minutes. I also have a kid friendly version for you too.
Welcome to cherry season! I adore the cherry season as it reminds me of my home, Michigan. Every year our family and close friends would head up to Crystal Mountain in Thompsonville around the fourth of July weekend. We would enjoy eating cherries, enjoy the Cherry festival in Traverse City, have cherry spitting pit contests, and of course eat cherry pies. The harvesting of cherries in Michigan is a big deal. Michigan is the nation’s third-largest producer of sweet cherries, trailing California and Oregon. Michigan produces about 18,000 tons of sweet cherries a year and I think I just ate half of them while preparing this dish!!!
There are both sweet and sour cherries. I used sweet cherries for my drunken cherry cheescake. Sweet cherries are grown in the western northern part of Michigan.
We celebrated Fathers Day a little early as this is the one the only time that our whole family would be together in this month of June. We enjoyed a tender steak with Bam's special zip sauce, Healthy Alternative Zip Sauce, grilled portabello mushrooms and aparagus, spring salad and grilled potatoes for the growing teenagers.
Then, I brought out the drunken cherry cheesecake (of course I made virgin version for my teenage boys) and set it on the dinner table. I was in the kitchen making a pot of fresh tea and within nanoseconds the dessert was inhaled. There were no loud sounds or words of praise coming from the kitchen table. There was just the delicate sounds of the spoon tapping the glass as they scouped out every last bit of the chocolately goodness. I walked in and found my youngest licking the inside of the dessert glass and then he asked, "Is there any more left?" There was no rating system performed or words or gratitude but their empty bowls spoke louder than words.
Happy Fathers Day to all my favorite men out there!!!
More delicious Dessert Recipe Ideas
Easy Microwave Chocolate Pudding
Grilled Nectarine with Coconut Cream
Icebox Lavendar Lemon Angel Food Cake
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Drunken Cherry Cheesecake
Ingredients
- 1.5 cup sweet cherries cut in half and pit removed (reserve some whole for garnishing)
- ½ cup vanilla Vodka (can leave out to make kid friendly) or maybe you would like to use amaretto, frangelica, drambui, etc.
- ½ sugar or sugar alternative I used about 12 packets of splenda or any sugar alternative you desire)
- 250 ml whipping cream
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
- Wash, cut in half and remove the pit from cherry. If you have one of those fancy cherry pitter, better yet!
- Marinade vanilla vodka with your cherries. (If doing a kid friendly version leave out the vodka and add a dash of vanilla and sugar if your cherries are not sweet, but mine were delightful) Set aside.
- In a bowl whip together the cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar alternatives. In a separate bowl, whip your cream until nice firm peaks. (set aside about ½ cup of whipped topping for garnish). Whip together both your cream cheese mixture and whipping cream and add cocoa. Taste and adjust for sweetness as desired.
- Place your cream cheese mixture in a piping bag. (I used a large ziplock baggie and cut the end of it as I still do not have all the fancy baking equipment and that works fine too)
- In 4 martini glasses or pretty glass cups, first place in a layer of marinated cherries then follow by a piping of chocolate cheesecake then followed by another layer of cherries and then more chocolate cheesecake and another layer of cherries until you reach the top of the glass.
- Garnish with a dollop of whipped topping, cherries and chocolate shavings if you desire.
gourmetgetaway says
OMG!! This looks so gorgeous! ... And so special, the perfect test for Father's Day. Lol about the virgin cheesecake for the boys !
Mich Piece of Cake says
What a delicious dessert! Love the cherries in the chocolate vodka mousse.
Sandra - The Foodie Affair says
Oh I love this recipe! It looks fantastic and not too involved! I also like your last photo with the half of the cherry staring at me tantalizing my taste buds 😉
Tandy says
Off to make some vanilla vodka! Yum 🙂
Healthy World Cuisine says
On my way to your house...
Barbara Bamber | justasmidgen says
Your family is sooo lucky, Bam! I would have asked for seconds of this dessert, I have such a sweet tooth and anything with the words "cherry" and "cheesecake" and "chocolate" would leave me wanting more:) Then you added the word "drunken" and "vodka".. I love a great grown up dessert! We are celebrating Father's Day this weekend.. at the golf course, I know.. I should be making these! I'll have to find another occasion! xx
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thank you Smidge. I actually love to golf, so enjoy your day and don't forget to get breakfast to hubby in bed before his tee time. Have a super weekend. BAM
thatskinnychickcanbake says
Oh, my. These are gorgeous!!! Love the boozy kick, too. Rich and beautiful...I think I need a spoon so I can dig in 🙂
PS...you are welcome to link up to our Chocolate Party...this month's theme is chocolate and cherries 🙂 It's my June 3 post.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thank You very much and that sounds like fun. I will head on over to your site and join in on your linky C & C party!
deliciouslynell says
It looks so decadent and delish!
Peri's Spice Ladle says
I love how simply this dessert comes together, Bam...and the drunken cherries look good enough to eat just as is! This recipe is making it to one of my summer barbecue evenings, we've been getting the most amazing cherries in the market right now:)
Balvinder says
Bobby, I tell you this desert is so good that I am going to askl my daughter to make it. Cheeries are so much in season.
Rufus' Food and Spirits Guide says
Those look ridiculously good!
Shumaila says
I love cherry season and this looks like a perfect dessert to make in this heat- one where you dont have to crank up the oven or stove. Like the presentation also of these. Thanks, BAM!
ChgoJohn says
Buona Sera, Bam! Your desserts look so very rich and appealing. Great idea for presentation, too, with built-in portion control. That's a great little recipe for the cheesecake, too. As much as I like a NY style cheesecake, sometimes I want a little piece of a cake without going through a 4 hour bake & cool process. I agree with you about Michigan cherries, too. I've driven over there just to get fresh cherries and stopped there when going to/from Zia's. Knowing that I've a few pounds of pitted cherries in my freezer makes me feel like I'm sitting atop King Solomon's mines. Have a great week!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Buona Sera John. Thank you so much. You are sitting on a gold mine in your freezer. Wow a few pounds of sweet cherries. Any plans? Jam? Maybe just a a dish of sweet cherries with a little Prosecco poured over the top? Take care, BAM
Norma Chang says
Sweet cherries should be appearing soon. So this is a very timely recipe. Love your presentation, gorgeous.
Alex says
Absolutely beautiful. So rich and delicious-looking...... 🙂 It's cherries season in Portugal and in my case it's one after the other after the other...
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thank you Alex. I would love for you to take some photos of the markets in Portugal and put them on your site. I am certain they are overflowing with beautiful fresh fruits and vegetables. We best buy 2 quarts of fresh cherries. One for testing and one for making our dishes. Take Care, BAM
sweetsimplestuff says
I need to find cherries! This sounds absolutely heavenly 🙂