Favorite Cheesecake Recipe
What you will need:
- 9″-9½” springform pan
Ingredients for The Crust:
- 10 graham crackers (finely crushed) OR 1-1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
- 6 Tbsp of unsalted butter, melted
- 1 Tbsp of vanilla sugar or regular sugar
- 1/3 tsp of cinnamon
Ingredients for The Cheesecake:
- 5 – 8oz of cream cheese,room temperature
- 1¾ cups sugar
- ¼ cup full-fat sour cream
- 6 whole large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- lemon zest
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350º.
Step 1- Prepare the crust:
- Combine graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon.
- Mix until well combined (“wet sand” like texture) – mix well.
- Press the crumb mixture evenly into the bottom of the springform pan.
- Wrap the bottom of the springform pan with foil.
- Bake for 8 minutes.
- Let the crust cool to room temperature.
Increase oven temp to 450°F.
Place the over rack on the bottom half of the stove. This will prevent the top of the cheesecake from burning.
Step 1-Cheesecake filling:
- Cream together the cream cheese until smooth.
- Mix in the sugar, and sour cream until light and fluffy using an electric mixer on medium-high speed (about 4-6 minutes).
- Add in 1 egg at a time. Make sure each egg is mixed in completely before adding the next.
- Add in vanilla and lemon zest and mix using low speed.
- Pour cheesecake filling into the crust.
- Fill a 9x13in baking dish with water, halfway.
- Place the springform pan into the water bath (baking dish filled with water).
Baking Instructions:
- Bake 15 minutes at 450°F.
- Reduce oven temperature to 240 °F and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes
- Bake until the center is almost set. When the cheesecake is ready, the center will still be jiggly. Do not over bake.
- Remove cheesecake from the oven and cool cake to room temperature. As the cheesecake cools, it will stiffen.
- Do not open the oven while the cheesecake is baking. Sudden change in oven temperature can cause the top of the cheesecake to crack.
Serving Instructions:
- It is best to refrigerate the cake for at least 3 hours before serving cooled.
- Top cake with your favorite toppings. (Strawberry topping, blueberry topping, chocolate ganache, German buttercream, etc.
- To remove cake from springform, run a knife around the edge of the springform to separate the cake from the pan.
- Unlatch and remove from the pan.