Tasty Tuesday: The Best Cheesecake You'll Ever Eat

Despite my love of making them, I've never really been a big fan of cake.  While I enjoy the creativity involved of making and enhancing flavors beyond basic chocolate and rudimentary vanilla, the fun stops there.  Cheesecake, however, has always been the dessert that I go to when my tastebuds need some happiness.  The variations are endless (Turtle cheesecake is a delight, as long as you don't have any sort of nut allergy).  There's one restaurant in town that serves a Vanilla Bean cheesecake that, no matter how full I am, it always makes its way into my meal choice.  But even that one, on its best day, pales in comparison to the cheesecake my mother makes.

One day I asked my mother where she got the amazing recipe and she said it was a wedding present.  Before she and my father got married, someone gave her the Moosewood Cookbook.  I'm sure 30+ years ago, it was in much better shape, but even without the cover or binding, even with the butter and oil stains, the dried dough particles marring random pages and forming a primitive adhesive, that book is her go-to bible for all things culinary.

And with that, I share THE Best Cheesecake You'll Ever Eat:

Crust

Crumbs from 16 graham crackers

1/2 stick butter

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp flour

Filling

16 oz cream cheese

1/3 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 lemon (juice and grated rind)

Topping:

1 pint sour cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 375F.  Mush up graham cracker crumbs, butter, honey, and flour with fingers and press firmly into bottom of spring form pan.

2. Blend the cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, and lemon until smooth and creamy.  Pour on top of crust and bake for 25 minutes.  Allow to cool completely.

3. Blend sour cream, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla.  Pour on top of cooled filling and bake for 5-8 minutes.

4. Cheesecake must set in refrigerator for AT LEAST 12 hours before it will be firm enough to slice well.  If you get impatient and cut before it is completely set, the top will be runny.

**Disclaimer: neither Eugene nor her mother came up with this recipe.  It came direct from the Moosewood Cookbook, available for sale here and other retailers.**