Well, if you can have maple bacon donuts, why not breakfast sausage cheesecake with coconut flakes?  As a dessert?  I know it sounds crazy, but it can work.  Of course, this would be next to impossible to make on any Chopped episode, since cheesecake really takes more than a day to create!  The last (and first!) cheesecake I made was baked the night before, then chilled and served the next day.

Breakfast sausages in cheesecake? 

So what would I do?  Like the cheesecake I made earlier this month, I’d make everything the day before, then allow it to set in the fridge.  I’d start with the no-bake cookie crust, making it with a little over a cup of crumbs along with a mix of yogurt, milk and melted butter or olive oil.  It’s then pressed onto a spring pan and allowed to set (about an hour or more in the fridge).  While the crust is setting, I’d start with the sausages, chopping them into bits and cooking it with a bit of grape syrup.  It is then cooled.

Coconut flakes (well, these are shredded coconuts – the flakes used on the show were smaller)

The cheese filling consists of equal parts cream cheese and Greek yogurt (two cups each in this case), followed by egg whites (two).  The cooled sausage and syrup mixture is then added along with a bit of vanilla.  If it isn’t sweet enough, more grape syrup will be mixed.  The cheese filling is now ready to be poured onto the cookie crust.  It’s then baked at a 350F oven for about 30-40 minutes, then cooled and chilled for at least four hours.

While it is chilling (or the next day), a chocolate glaze will be made by dissolving chocolate chips over bain-marie.  The glaze will be drizzled over sliced cake with coconut flakes added on top.

Breakfast Sausage image courtesy of Joe Gough; Shredded Coconut (coconut flakes) image by marekuliasz. Both from Shutterstock