Plain and White Cheesecake

If you read my entry about Dylan's Eggnog Cheesecake and Jake's admission more than fourteen years in the making, you'll know why I made a plan and white cheesecake...

Ingredients

Crust
2 C crushed cinnamon graham crackers
1 C ground almonds
1/2 C (stick) melted butter
2 T organic granulated sugar
Filling
3 - 8 oz. packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 C organic granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 C organic sour cream
1 T vanilla extract

Procedure

Crust
Mix all of the ingredients together until moist clumps form. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and up sides of a springform pan that's been wrapped in foil. Chill crust while preparing filling.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F.

Filling
Beat cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in sugar. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in sour cream and vanilla.

Transfer filling to prepared crust. Place springform pan in large roasting pan. Pour enough boiling water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake until cheesecake puffs around edges, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn off oven. Let cake stand in oven 1 hour, leaving oven door ajar.

If you would like to top the cheesecake with a sour cream topping, beat together 1 C sour cream, 1 T vanilla, and 1 T organic sugar. Spread this over the cheesecake and bake in a 350 degree oven again for 5 minutes.

Transfer cake to rack. Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Cool completely. Remove foil from pan sides. Cover cake and chill overnight. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.) Remove pan sides to serve.

Comments

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