Being a little "cheesy" herself, in terms of her playful side, it only makes sense that she would become the cheesecake queen in our church and neighborhood!
In my Sophomore year of high school, our home economics class assigned us to make a dessert that our family enjoyed eating. I wanted to bring the cheesecake but didn't know how to make it, so Mom took me aside that Saturday, assuring me that it would be better to chill for 48 hours since I would have to get it to school and save it in the school fridge. For several hours we cooked, laughed, and talked about our love of cheesecake. A love that is still in me to this day.
That Monday Dad delayed going to work in order to drive me to school. I was so excited when I got the cake, which was now wrapped up in cellophane, into the fridge in the home economics class. I left off to homeroom and continued with my day.
Home ec was after lunch and when we all got in there, everyone was ready for post-lunch dessert. The teacher had each of us retrieve our goodies and, when I went into the fridge to fish out my dish, I about fell through the floor: there was a large slice cut out! Oh, I was so angry! Until I found out the teacher had cut it out. "It just looked so good," she smiled sheepishly. "I didn't think you'd mind."
I didn't mind and I got an A+ so it was worth all the effort. So here goes the recipe. A TIP: Read through the instructions and have everything ready to go! You will need a 9" spring pan that is well-greased.
THE CRUST
This cake is usually made with graham crackers and that's perfectly okay but Mom borrowed from Julia and used Zweibach:
- 1 1/4 cups crushed Zweibach (if you can't find it, you can use biscotti)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup melted butter, cooled
- Butter the bottom and sides of a spring pan.
- Mix together pressing into a spring pan, with 1/4 inch at the bottom and working halfway up the sides.
- Chill for one hour.
If you don't want to use either of the above, you can still replace it with graham crackers (around 20-25) and omit the sugar.
NEXT THE FILLING
A note about the filling:
There are two major mistakes people make with cheesecake. The first mistake is over-beating, which aerates the cheese batter and makes it way too light, almost like a cream cake. The second mistake is to not set their cream cheese and other items out the night before to soften. Believe me when I say you want this stuff soft so you won't be over-beating. Oh, and there's also a third: they try to get a completely smooth batter. No, not with this cheesecake! You want it thick and dense and decadent.
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 cup sour cream, room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla or 1 large vanilla bean
- 4 - 8oz packs of cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2/3 cups whole milk, room temperature
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- In a large bowl mix the cream cheese with the sugar by hand.
- Add in the milk and stir together until just incorporated. You'll have lumps- keep the lumps!
- Whisk in the eggs, one at a time until just incorporated. Still, keep any lumps!
- Add in the sour cream, flour, and vanilla until just mixed in and no flour is visible.
- Pour into the crust and bake at 350 for 1 hour.
- Turn the heat off and allow it to cool in the closed oven for 3-4 hours. Check for doneness at the 3-hour mark by giving it a little jiggle. If it seems soupy in the middle, place it back into the closed oven.
- Remove, keep it in the pan, and allow it to come to room temperature on your counter before placing it, keeping it in the spring mold, into the fridge to chill overnight.
Has it got a crack? If so, you've overcooked but that's okay, just cover it up with any number of delicious sauces. I prefer a ganache but then, I prefer all things chocolate! ;)