Sunday, June 13, 2010

Sundays with Marlena Spieler-Cheesecake

The strawberries are from my garden :)
I only had a small springform pan..so I made a small cheesecake. :( The cooking directions are for a regular size cake.

Ingredients

Crust:

  • 5-6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs,
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • Pinch fine salt

Filling:

  • 2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
  • Berries, optional

Directions

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.


For the crust: Melt the butter... covered in the microwave, in a medium microwave safe bowl. Brush a 9-inch springform pan with some of the butter. Stir the remaining butter together with the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and salt. Press the crumb mixture over the bottom of the pan, taking care to get the crust evenly into the edges. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool. Wrap the bottom and up the sides of the pan with foil and put in a roasting pan. *don't use your food processor to crush your crumbs. put them in a zip lock bag and crush them with your hands.


For the filling: Beat the cream cheese on medium speed with a hand-held mixer-- or in your big mixer until smooth. Add 1 and 1/4 cups sugar and beat just until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl and beaters as needed. Slowly beat in 3/4 cup sour cream, then eggs, 1 tablespoon vanilla and both citrus zests; take care not to over whip. Pour into the cooled crust. Bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Set on cooling rack on the counter. Leave the oven on!


Meanwhile, stir together the remaining sour cream, sugar and vanilla paste. Spread over the top of the cooked cheesecake and return to the oven for 5 minutes. Turn the oven off, cook the cheesecake in the residual heat in the oven for 1 hour.


Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.


Bring cheesecake to room temperature 30 minutes before serving. Remove the springform ring. Dip a knife in warm water, wipe dry before slicing each piece. Serve with berries..or not.

6 comments:

Taradharma said...

oh, I'm making this for sure - after I buy the appropriate pan! I used to make this years ago...I think I burnt out on it if you can believe it.

the berries look yummy - homegrown's the best!

Eileen and Karen said...

You did a beautiful job on that cheesecake! YUM!

Joanna Jenkins said...

That is one seriously good looking cheesecake-- But the strawberries-- WOW-- fresh from the garden, very impressive. My strawberry plants generated a whopping 3 this year (That weren't eaten by the bugs).

YUM,
jj

Anonymous said...

Oh...I love cheesecake. Lovely strawberries...mine are just flowering...have had a bumper crop of asparagus with all the wet weather...although the raging creek took out one of my most productive wild beds.

Peg said...

Beautiful strawberries!! I love them so much, I've been gorging on them this season. Wonder if I'd have any luck growing them... Your raised beds must be working out.

cheesecake said...

Love the presentation! Very professional looking! lol! Seriously, you did a good job there. I love cheesecake in its barest form, you add garnishing like that and I'll probably eat dessert first! Of course, I will definitely try your recipe, and try even harder to make it as good as yours, lol!