#HotSummerEats: Lemongrass-Ginger Cheesecake #sponsor #giveaway

Today, my first born turns thirteen. Thir-TEEN. A teenager?!? How in the world did that happen? So, to kick of my online blogging event Hot Summer Eats, I am bringing you our family's favorite dessert: cheesecake.

So tasty. and it's great for shoving birthday candles into as well.

But first, a few photos of the birthday boy. This is the day we became a family of three. Well, maybe it was the next day. That little boy upended our entire lives. In a great way.

Back to the real reason for this post: cheesecake! While I gravitate toward creatively flavored cheesecakes - I've made Matcha-Yuzu Cheesecake, Cheesecake with a Chestnut Swirl, Lemon-Saison Cheesecake, and Blood Orange-Saffron Cheesecake - my husband vastly prefers Plain White Cheesecake. My solution: keep it mostly neutral-hued; he doesn't object too much then. So, I added lots of flavor into the crust and kept the filling mostly plain. It was a hit.

Crust

• 3 C crushed cookies (I used graham crackers)
• 1/2 C (one stick) butter, melted
• zest from one organic Meyer lemon
• 1 t lemongrass (I used prepared lemongrass from Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices*)
• 1 t ginger (I used lightly dried ginger from Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices*)

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

Filling

• three 8 oz. packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 C organic granulated sugar
• 1/2 C organic dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• 4 large eggs
• 2 C organic sour cream
• 1/2 t lemongrass (I used prepared lemongrass from Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices*)
• 1 t pure vanilla extract
• 1 t ginger syrup
• zest from one organic Meyer lemon

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Beat cream cheese in large mixing bowl until fluffy. Beat in sugar. Beat in eggs - one at a time. Finally, mix in sour cream, lemongrass, vanilla extract, ginger syrup, and lemon zest. Spoon filling into prepared crust.

Place springform pan in large roasting pan. Pour boiling water into roasting pan and place some water-filled ramekins on the tray as well. Bake until cheesecake puffs around edges, approximately 1 hour. Turn off oven. Let cake stand in oven 1 hour and 15 minutes, leaving oven door ajar.

Sour Cream Topping

• 2 C organic sour cream
• 1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 T organic dark brown sugar

Beat the ingredients together. Spread over the cheese cake and bake in a 350°F oven for 5 minutes. Let cool for an hour, then refrigerate overnight or for as long as you can.

Thanks, Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices* - just one of our #HotSummerEats sponsors - for ingredients used in this recipe. You can find Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spice: on the web, on facebook, on twitter, on instagram, and on pinterest.

*Full Disclosure: I received an assortment of stir in pastes and lightly dried herbs for participating in #HotSummerEats. Feel free to use whatever herbs and spices you have on-hand. I received no additional compensation for this post; all comments are 100% accurate and 100% my own.

An InLinkz Link-up

And don't forget the giveaway...

more details about the sponsors and the prizes: here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer - Thank you to #HotSummerEats sponsors BenBella Vegan, Caribeque, Casabella, Gourmet Garden, Intensity Academy, Not Ketchup, Out of the Weeds. Pirate Jonny's, Quirk Books, Spicely Organics, T.Lish , and Voodoo Cheffor providing the prizes free of charge. These companies also provided the bloggers with samples and product to use for#HotSummerEats without additional compensation.All opinions are my own.