12 Days of Christmas Cookies: Afterward...

     And no, I'm not going to talk about how much bigger my "afterward" has gotten after all those Christmas cookies!
     I had me a mishap with the Soft Ginger Cookies with Orange Glaze.  The cookies turned out beautifully.  They froze beautifully.  But instead of separating them with a piece of parchment like the directions said, I thought I'd save myself the step and after freezing them on cookie sheets, stacked them on top of each other inside a gallon baggie.  I checked them periodically by opening the bag and taking one or three out for "quality assurance" purposes and they all separated fine.  So I got the big head.  I thought, "Phsaw!  I got this all figured out right here!"  Well, then defrosting day came.  Instead of taking them all out of the bag and defrosting them separately on a cookie rack like I should have, I left them in the baggie on the counter over night.  And in the morning, this is what I had:

I didn't even try to take an appetizing picture of this here mess.  It was unappetizing to say the least...

So I puzzled and puzzed till my puzzler was sore.  And then I thought of something I hadn't before!  Cheesecake.... Oooooohhh mama...

    I fiddled around online until I found this no-bake cheese cake recipe which I edited to suit the crust.  Yep.  You heard me.  I made a bunch of those lovely cookies into a crust.  They were so moist, all I had to do was crumble them up and cram them into a springform pan! 

Phoenix Cake
15-20 soft ginger cookies crumbled

8 ounces cream cheese

1/3 cup sucanat

1/3 C orange juice

1/2 sour cream
2/3 C powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves

Crumble cookies and press tightly into a greased springform pan.  Mix the rest of the ingredients and pour over crust.  Refrigerate, uncovered at least overnight.  The longer you let it set, the firmer it will get.  You can reduce the juice and powdered sugar down to 2 Tbs of each, but you will lose some of the orange juice flavor.

Top it with a little golden syrup if you like.  I prefer it without.

Review

I love this cheesecake!  It tastes like orange juice with cloves in it.  My favorite Christmas drink.  And I know it's past Christmas, but I thought some of you might have a few cookies laying around... If you like the cookies, you'll like this cake.