Cheesecake to die for!

Cheesecake is a favorite in our house. I make chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake, mocha cheesecake, and turtle cheesecake. I would have to say that the recipe that I am posting is my family’s favorite. It’s a plain cheesecake with a little whipped topping on it. Eat it plain…or top it with fresh fruit or chopped candies. Anyway you slice it, it’s divine!

I found this recipe some years back in the Taste of Home magazine.

I normally tweak recipes to fit our family’s likes and dislikes; this recipe needed very little tweaking. We love it!

I am making it today to take to some friends who have graciously invited me to lodge with them while we are participating in a book-signing event. Thanks Charlie and Lisa!

2 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 c sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ cup butter, melted

Filling:
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs, separated

In a small bowl, combine cracker crumbs, sugar, and cinnamon.

I am using my batter bowl from Pampered Chef...my very favorite mixing bowl!


Stir in melted butter. Press into bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Cool.

Reduce heat to 325 degrees. In a mixing bowl beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add egg yolks and beat until just mixed. (Over mixing cheesecake results in extra air in your mixture. This causes the cake to crack while baking.)

In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form.

Fold into cream cheese mixture.

Pour over crust and bake for one hour or until cake is set. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen the crust. Cool one hour. Refrigerate until completely cooled.

There are two topping options for this cheesecake.

The topping that came with the recipe is:

½ c sour cream
2 TBS sugar
½ tsp vanilla
½ c heavy whipping cream, whipped

Combine sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Fold in whipped cream and spread over cooled cake.

The other option is to beat heavy whipping cream, add a little sugar, and put a dollop on your cheesecake. Either topping is delicious. Today, I used the later.