I decided to attempt a cheesecake this week. I knew just the place to go for a recipe. You are probably thinking allrecipes and I did check there. But then I remembered Annie's Eats has always had out of this world desserts so I knew she would have a killer cheesecake recipe. This cheesecake was so delicious. She said to use a 9 inch springform pan but my smallest was a 10 inch so it should have been thicker than this. This will for sure be my go to recipe for cheesecake.Ingredients:
For crust
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted plus 1 addtional tbsp melted for greasing the pan
4 oz (approx 8 whole) graham crackers, processed into fine even crumbs
1 Tbsp sugar
For cheesecake:
5-8oz pkgs cream cheese, cut into 1 inch chunks at room temp
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup sour cream
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 large egg yolks plus 6 large eggs at room temp
Directions:
To make the crust, adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325. Brust the bottom and sides of 9 inch springform pan with 1/2 Tbsp of melted butter. IN a medium bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, 5 Tbsp melted butter, and sugar. Toss with a fork until crumbs are evenly moistened. Transfer the crumbs to the springform pan and use the bottom of a ramekin to firmly press the crumbs evenly into the pan bottom. Bake until fragrant and beginning to brown around edges, about 13 minutes. Cool on wire rack while preparing filling.
Increase oven temp to 500. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese at med-low speed to break it up and soften slightly, about 1 min. Scrape with rubber spatula. Add the salt and half of the sugar and beat at med-low until combined-abt 1 min. Scrape bowl, add sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla. Beat at low speed until combined, abt 1 min. Scrape bowl, add the egg yolks and beat at med-low speed until combined 1 min. Add the remaining eggs 2 at a time, beating until combined and scraping the bowl between additions.
Brush the sides of the springform pan with the remaining 1/2 Tbsp melted butter. Set the pan on a rimmed baking sheet to catch and spills in case pan leaks. Pour the filling into the cooled crust and bake 10 minutes; without opening the oven door, reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees and continue to bake until the cheesecake read about 150 degrees in the center, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer to a wire rack and cool until barely warm, 2 1/5-3hrs. Run a paring knife between the cake and the springform pan sides. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hrs. Let cheese cake stand at room temp about 30 min then serve. I like my cheesecake with strawberries on top and for those I just slice them and then mash them just a little bit and put them on top.
