Sour Cream Cheesecake

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We're gathering recipes for the Habitat for Humanity Fundraising dinner on April 17th. For our dessert buffet, we'll offer Tiramisu, Chocolate Torte, Lemon Pound Cake with Limoncello cream, and Cheesecake with assorted toppings.

Cheesecake was my mother's signature dessert, and raspberries her favorite accompaniment. She often served it with her own raspberry sauce, or spread rich preserves over an almond crust before topping with the creamy filling and baking. A holiday was simply incomplete without a luscious serving.

My mother made this so often she never bothered with writing it down. It's impossible to capture the magic she brought to baking, but here's the basic method.

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SOUR CREAM CHEESE CAKE

This makes a very creamy cheesecake. Best made the day before serving. My mother would often substitute 1/2 cup heavy cream for the sour cream. Often, too, she would separate the eggs, and whip the whites, then blend the yolks into the cream cheese mixture, and finally gently fold the whites into the mixture. This makes the cake fluffier and lighter, but is more trouble. I'm usually too lazy . . . Can use less sugar -- I have a sweet tooth.

Prepared graham cracker or almond crust, on bottom only of 9 inch spring-form pan. (Recipe below.)

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3 8-ounce packages cream cheese (not low fat)

1 ¼ cups sugar

¾ cup sour cream

2 to 3 teaspoons vanilla

3 eggs

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All ingredients MUST be at room temperature before you begin.

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar, vanilla, and sour cream and beat until well combined and again, very smooth.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs. With the beaters running very slowly, mix eggs into the cream cheese mixture only until incorporated. Avoid overbeating or beating on too high a speed. This will toughen the cake.

Pour into the spring form pan. Place pan on top of a cookie sheet, and place in center of preheated oven.

Bake for one hour. Turn off oven and open door. Hold the door ajar with a knife. Allow cake to sit in oven for 30 to 40 minutes longer.

Remove from oven. Run knife around edges of pan. Allow to cool slightly, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 6 hours of preferably over night.

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Standard recipe for the crust, adapted for bottom only:

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (finely ground in processor

from about 12 whole graham crackers)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

3 tablespoons melted butter

Pinch of salt

Blend graham cracker crumbs, sugar, flour, and pinch of salt in processor. Add melted butter and process until crumbs are moistened. Lightly butter a 9 inch spring form pan. Transfer crumb mixture into pan; press mixture firmly onto bottom of pan. Bake crust until set, about 10 minutes. Cool crust in pan completely. Be sure to lower oven temperature before baking the cheesecake.

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