From “Better Homes and Gardens.”
This is a delicious mix of cheesecake and fruit with both pear and raspberry flavors. Take care, and the presentation will be beautiful. I used two large cans of pears, and the results were delicious.
Ingredients
2 cups water
½ cup sugar
2 Tbl lemon juice
5 medium pears, peeled, cored and sliced
1/3 cup seedless red raspberry jam
½ cup butter, cut up
1 (14.5 oz) package gingerbread mix
1 egg yolk
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
½ tsp vanilla
1 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
Directions
In a large saucepan bring the water, the ½ cup sugar and lemon juice to boiling. Add pears. Simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in raspberry jam. Cool 1 hour. (If desired, cover and chill up to 6 hours.) Drain.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place gingerbread mix in a bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut butter into mix until pieces are pea-sized. Stir in egg yolk just until combined. Remove and discard ½ cup of the crumb mixture. Press remaining mixture onto bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Bake for 25 minutes and then cool completely.
In a medium bowl beat cheese on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the 1/3 cup sugar; beat until light. Add eggs and vanilla; beat on medium speed until combined. Stir in lemon peel. Spoon about half of the cheese mixture into crust.
Spoon drained pears evenly over cheese mixture. Spoon remaining cheese mixture over pears. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until center is set. Cool 30 minutes on rack. Loosen sides of pan. Cover; chill 2 to 24 hours. Remove sides of pan.
a little of each 