I cannot recall where I came across this cheesecake recipe, but it looked easy and pretty amazing, so I decided to give it a try for a friend's birthday.
Cake:
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 8 oz. packages Kraft's Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 heaping tablespoons flour
Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham crackers crumbs
6 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
Topping:
1 can cherry pie filling
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Set out your cream cheese and sour cream so that they are room temperature. Mix the cream cheese and sugar together...make sure you get all of the lumps out. Add the sour cream, heavy cream, lemon juice, vanilla, eggs and flour to the mixture. Mix well.
Take heavy aluminum foil and wrap it around the sides and bottom of your springform pan. Mix crust ingredients together in a small mixing bowl. Pour into a lightly greased 9" springform pan. Press the crust into place with your fingers or the back of a spoon. Once it is pressed in well, chill the crust in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
When the crust is chilled and the cake is completely mixed, pour the batter onto the crust slowly. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes to settle.
In order to prevent cracking on the cheesecake, make a water bath for it. Place springform pan into a larger deeper baking pan that it will fit into easily. The larger pan should be 2-3 inches deep. Place in preheated oven. With a kettle filled with very hot water, pour water into baking pan about halfway up. Bake in 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 275 and bake for 1 hour. Turn off the oven but do not open the oven door for 2 hours. After 2 hours, remove the cheesecake pan from the water bath. Leave the aluminum foil in place until the cheesecake has completely cooled in the refrigerator. I generally would leave the aluminum foil in place overnight and the next day, take the foil off and run a knife gently around the sides of the springform pan to loosen it a little and release the springform pan.
Top the cheesecake with the cherry pie filling either before serving or put it on the side and let people top it themselves.
SUGGESTIONS/COMMENTS:
I did not use the water bath because the original recipe insisted it was not necessary. I definitely found out that was not true. But the recipient of the cheesecake told me he was not concerned about how it looked as much as how it tasted :) So, I decided to top my cheesecake before delivery to cover the cracking and give it a more aesthetic appearance!
And to tell you how it turned out, I dropped this off for my friend around 2 p.m. and he and his co-workers had eaten all of it but a small slice by the time I saw him at 6 p.m.! And his coworkers were raving about it! One told me it was the best cheesecake she ever had and that she normally didn't like cherries on her cheesecake but this one was perfection!
And my friend that I baked this for used to be a baker, so I asked for his verdict. He had no suggestions and said it was perfect! I was definitely pleased on the turnout :)
