Goal!!!!

Well, it felt like a goal to me. Caught up in World Cup fever, I turn on the TV each morning while getting ready for work and watch the early game. Great stuff. Anyway, back to me…. The cheesecake, mentioned in my Week in Review blog post, turned out GREAT and due to my lack of cheesecake-baking skills, this was a spot-on goal, with raves from the crowd. To recap:

“I am trying my hand at cheesecake. I have never been too successful with this dessert. My dad has entered numerous cheesecakes into county fairs and done well, but I missed that gene. So as to cover my butt, I am trying out a new recipe. If it fails, I blame the cookbook. Of course, it is from How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking, by Nigella Lawson. I am attempting her London Cheesecake, so the likelihood is that it wil turn out well, as I have yet to make anything out of this cookbook that turned out bad. Stay tuned….”


Now that you have obliged me by tuning back in afater my loooong “week in Review” post (thank you, thank you, thank you), I can tell you that the recipe was easy and delicious. Served with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, the room became quiet as soon as it was served, a sure sign of a hit.

As cheesecakes go, this one is fairly easy. I adjusted it a bit, since I could not for the life of me find the bottom plate to my 8” springform pan. So I am giving you the quantities I used for a 9” pan.

Crust:
1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
6 T unsalted butter, melted

Cake:
24 oz. cream cheese
¾ cup sugar
4 eggs
3 egg yolks
2 T vanilla extract
2 T lemon juice

Topping:
1 cup sour cream
2 T sugar
½ t vanilla extract

Mix the crumbs and butter and press into the bottom only of a 9” springform pan. Pop in the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put on a tea kettle of water to boil.

Beat cream cheese until smooth, then add the sugar, mixing until well incorporated. Add the eggs and egg yolks and finally the vanilla and lemon juice. Take your crust out of the fridge and wrap the bottom in two layers of heavy foil. Pour the mixture into the crust. Place the cheesecake into a roasting pan and pour boiling water halfway up. Place in the oven for 55 minutes.

Mix up the topping and spread on the cheesecake, then cook for 10 more minutes. Remove pan from oven and take springform out, unwrapping the foil. Cool on a rack. When cool, place in the refrigerator. When chilled, unmold and serve.

Less than ½ hour of prep time. Simple ingredients. This yields a soft and creamy cheesecake. It is not heavy or dense and works well with fruit. Try it, you’ll like it!