Easy Peasy Cheesecake

Poor people have poor ways. That means that cheesecake was, for me, growing up, an almost unattainable luxury. If ever I passed through the door of a restaurant, and was lucky enough to enjoy dessert there, I always ordered cheesecake. The silky, smooth, fattening goodness melted in my mouth in a most delightful way.

While in college, and spreading my wings, I decided to try making a cheesecake. When it came to cooking I was totally flying blind, but I was feeling my young and invincible age. After looking through some cookbooks (the Internet was still young then) I was a little baffled. For every cheesecake recipe there was a totally different list of ingredients. They were usually a bit long and included at least one thing I didn't actually recognize. At that time, I had no idea what lemon zest was.

I eventually picked one recipe to try, hoping that it would turn out to be tasty. I made a list and drove to the store. The first thing on my list was graham cracker crumbs. I didn't even know you could buy such a thing. I looked up and down the baking aisle for a while before I finally spotted them. I had three choices of brands. I decided against the store brand; sticking with the name brands seemed like a good idea. I chose the Honey Maid Graham Cracker Crumbs. I looked the box over carefully, trying to ensure myself that I had picked out the right thing. On the back I spotted something.

There was a cheesecake recipe titled "Our Best Cheesecake". It was simple and straightforward. Excepting the graham cracker crumbs I was holding, I recognized all of the ingredients. I shoved my list in my pocket and used the back of the box as my shopping list.

The cheesecake turned out great and I've been making it ever since. It's creamy and smooth. It's rich yet it's simple. I still have the cardboard recipe I cut off the box years ago. I make it every year for my husband's birthday. I, who am not a cook and only pretend to be able to bake, get compliments on this cheesecake without fail.

I'm going to share it with you now.



The ingredients: graham cracker crumbs, butter (or margarine; not pictured), sugar, vanilla, eggs, cream cheese, sour cream, and, if you like them, cherries for the top.



First you have to make the crust. You mix graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and a wee bit of sugar together. Dump it in your springform pan.



Press all over the bottom of the pan. If you're a good girl and you use the right size pan (8"), you'll have plenty to press up the sides of the pan too. If you used a 10" pan, like I did here, you'll just get the bottom of the pan covered. No matter. Press on. Indulgence still awaits.

If you're worried about trying to create this graham cracker crust, don't be. Even getting it up the sides of the pan isn't that difficult. Just remember to move the pan around gently. You don't want to whack it on the counter or bump it with your wayward elbow. If you do, you just have to spend a couple minutes fixing the crust. Then put it in a safe place until you can fill it.



Now get to makin' the fillin'. Plop your three room temperature (aka softened) blocks of cream cheese into a bowl. Add the sugar and vanilla.



Have fun whipping them all together.



Add your eggs, one at a time.



When you're done you'll have a nice smooth filling.



Put your sour cream in now, and fold it into your filling. This means, as I learned, that you gently mix it in, without the aid of an electric mixer, and overall you mix as little as is humanly possible. Really though, with this recipe, it would be hard to overmix if you do it by hand.

And here's where I need to ask a question. Is sour cream a liquid or a solid? When it says to measure one cup of the stuff which measuring cup do I use? I went with a dry measure cup, but I still feel uneasy about that decision.

Anyway, now that you have a nice creamy filling. Pour it into your pan.



I think I overwhitened this photo. Sorry.

Also, looking at this photo makes me sad. I do so prefer my cheesecake to be a nice, tall cheesecake. But, someone has lost the bottoms of my other springform pan. This is the only one left with a bottom.

Now pop that baby in the oven.



If you inadvertantly make your cheesecake look like this, don't panic. You won't have a super smooth, killer-looking cheesecake, but, trust me, people won't notice a difference in the taste either. Ask me how I know.

This happened because I didn't follow my own instructions to lower the temperature in my oven to accomodate the dark coated pan. My bad.

Ok, when the timer goes off, and if the center of the cake is no longer jiggly in the middle, turn off the oven. Leave the door ajar for an hour before you pull out your cheesecake. (I've skipped this step before. Sometimes my cheesecake didn't set all the way through. So skip it at your own peril. This time I was ok.)



See the rim I've created? It actually works really, really well for holding all the cherry topping in. My husband, believe it or not, actually prefers when I mess up the cheesecake in this manner.

Let it cool for a while. Then stick it in the fridge for at least four hours (overnight is best).



Pop off the springform side. Stare at your squat cheesecake in despair (optional). If you have thoroughly cooled your cheesecake, you should be able to transfer it to a separate plate. Just be careful.



Then grab a kid and make their day by letting them pour out the can of cherries.



My husband loved his birthday cheesecake. He never noticed it was short. He loves, loves, loves the cherries on top. Others have recommended blueberries to me. I did that once, but hubby prefers the cherries.

Since I'm not real keen on the cherries, I usually scrape them off my piece. The cheesecake is great plain, although I sometimes get out the Hershey's syrup and really have a party.

I recently have started sprinkling semi-sweet chocolate chips over the crust before pouring in the filling. That is nice too.

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Honey Maid Graham Cracker Crumb's "Our Best Cheesecake"
1 3/4 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/3 cup butter, melted (the original recipe says margarine, so pick your poison)
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
3 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup dairy sour cream
1 21oz can cherry pie filling (optional)

2 mixing bowls, 8" or 9" springform pan

In bowl, combine crumbs, margarine [butter] and 1/4 cup sugar. Press on bottom and 1 1/2 inches up side of 8 or 9 inch springform pan; set aside.

In bowl, with electric mixer at high speed [or medium], beat cream cheese, remaining sugar and vanilla until creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Blend in sour cream. Spread in prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees Farenheit for 60 to 70 minutes, or until center is set. [325 for dark coated pan] Turn off oven, leaving door slightly ajar; leave cheesecake in oven 1 hour.

Remove from oven; cool completely. Chill 4 hours or overnight. Remove side of pan; top with cherry filling if desired.