Cheesecake!

Some friends from out of town were coming to have dinner with us, so I decided that I would make a totally american dessert; cheesecake made with cream cheese. The reason for the topping is that I forgot to grease the springform (bad idea), so the cheesecake cracked. I topped it with sweetened whipped cream, fresh berries, and graham cracker crust crumbs. I might do this in the future even if my cheesecake doesn't crack, because it added an extra level of yumminess. This recipe was on the back of a box of graham cracker crumbs. (Does anybody else know about those? Because I always thought that you had to crush the graham crackers...) This recipe is really good.

      New York Cheesecake

Ingredients:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup margarine or butter, melted

2 tablespoons sugar

4 packages (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 1/3 cups sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup sour cream

Instructions:

In a small bowl toss together graham cracker crumbs, margarine or butter and 2 tablespoons sugar. Reserve 2 tablespoons of crumb mixture for garnish. Press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom and 2 1/4 inches up sides of 9-inch springform pan. Chill in freezer while preparing filling.

In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese on medium speed of electric mixer until fluffy. Add 1 1/3 cups sugar, cornstarch and vanilla. Beat until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined after each addition. Stir in sour cream.

Pour into crust. Bake at 325 F about 1 1/4 hours or until center is almost set. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen sides of pan. Continue cooling on wire rack for 45 minutes more. Sprinkle top with reserved crumbs. Refrigerate at least three hours. Garnish as desired. Store in refrigerator.

 

Yield 16 servings.

Bon Appetite!