My 27th Birthday, Part 2: Chai-Spiced Cheesecake with Ginger Crust

On to part 2....I love tea, especially chai with the strong black tea and spices. So, this past fall, when I was planning out these cheesecakes, I thought it would be creative to make a chai cheesecake. After some looking through the internet, I found a recipe for this cheesecake on epicurious.com. After studying the recipe, I decided to go with it.

CHAI-SPICED CHEESECAKE WITH GINGER CRUST

CRUST:
nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup mince crystallized ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk

FILLING:
4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 (8 ounce) container mascarpone cheese
5 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

TOPPING:
1 1/3 cups sour cream
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

CRUST:
Spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray. Sift flour, ground ginger, and salt into a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in another medium bowl until blended. beat in egg yolk, then the flour mixture. Stir in crystallized ginger. Gather dough into a ball; flatten into a disk. Roll out on floured surface into a 9-inch round. Transfer into prepared pan. Press onto bottom and 1-inch up sides of pan; pierce all over with a fork. Freeze 30 minutes.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until set, about 30 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake crust until golden brown and cooked through, about 20 minutes. Cool crust completely on rack.

FILLING:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add mascarpone; beat until smooth. Beat in whole eggs one at a time, then beat in yolks. Add next 6 ingredients; beat until blended. Transfer filling to cooled crust in pan; smooth top. Bake cake 1 hour. Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees F. Continure baking until cake is set around the edges but center when pan is gently shaken, about 30 minutes longer. Remove cake from oven. Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

TOPPING:
Whisk all ingredients in small bowl; spread evenly over top of cake. Bake until set, about 10 minutes. Run a small knife around cake sides. Chill uncovered overnight.