The Disappearing Cheesecake

So remember when I said I found the new local cream cheese, and it was so good I'd make a cheesecake with it? I did.

And it was so so delicious. I mean, it was the real deal. 16 slices disappeared in 24 hours. Here is what I did, because it is so easy to reproduce.

Crust:

1 c. crumbed Gingernut cookies

1 c. crumbed HobNob cookies

1/4 c. breakfast or castor sugar

1/2 c. melted butter

Filling:

1 kg cream cheese, room temperature (that's 5 1/2 boxes of the Britannia Cream Cheese)

1 c. breakfast sugar

3 T. flour

5 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 c. Amul cream

1 T. lemon zest (this made a fairly strong lemon flavor, use less if you want)

1 t. vanilla extract

Topping:

1 c. sour cream (or 1 T. vinegar mixed with 1 c. Amul cream)

2 T. breakfast sugar

1/2 t. vanilla extract

Grease the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Place pan on a larger baking sheet to catch any leakage while the cheesecake is baking. Preheat oven to 177C. with rack in center of oven.

Crust: In a medium sized bowl, combine the cookie crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

Filling: In a large bowl, place the cream cheese, sugar and flour. Beat on medium speed (I did this with a hand blender) until smooth (about 2 minutes, DO NOT OVERBEAT!), scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (about 30 seconds) after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the whipping cream, lemon zest, vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the filling. Place the cheesecake pan on a larger baking pan and place in the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 120C and continue to bake about another 1 1/2 hours or until firm and only the center of the cheesecake looks a little wet and wobbly. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the sour cream, sugar and vanilla extract. Spread the topping over the warm cheesecake and return to oven to bake for 15 more minutes. Remove from oven and carefully run a knife or spatula around the inside of the pan to loosen the cheesecake. This helps prevent the surface from cracking as it cools.

Let cool before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating. Tastes best after being refrigerated for at least a day.

Tips: Sometimes the surface of the cheesecake cracks. To help prevent this from happening do not over beat the batter, especially when creaming the cheese and sugar.

Another reason for cracking is overbaking the cheesecake. The cheesecake is done when it is firm, but the middle may still look a little wet. Also, make sure the springform pan is well greased as cracking can occur if the cheesecake sticks to the sides as it cools.

Only slightly adapted from www.joyofbaking.com