Cheesecake Recipe

We had Thanksgiving at our house this year.  Just the four little kids and us parents... 6 people total... only 2 of whom could be counted on to eat any of the traditional Thanksgiving food in any sort of quantity.  Just sort of felt like cocooning, no driving, keeping it "easy."  And gluten-free.

Nonetheless, I decided that we should do the whole shebang... turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, cranberry (which only I will eat), pies... what else?  You know the drill.  We usually go to my cousins' and they usually have a minimum of 15 people around the table.  It is a blast with lots of kids and an absolutely amazing spread of delicious food prepared by the hosts.  And she always makes her fabulous cheesecake.  I knew my husband would be missing that cheesecake.

So I decided to surprise him.  I made a cheesecake.  I asked my cousin for her recipe, which she divulged :-)  If Taryn is reading this, she is probably laughing super hard.  The thought of ME making a Thanksgiving meal AND a cheesecake is ludicrous if you know me in real life.  I burn WATER.  I once set the kitchen on fire (it was a small fire) making TOAST!  My skills and comfort-level in the kitchen are dramatically improving... but it is always chancy when I take on the culinary arts.

I am pleased to report that EVERYTHING turned out AMAZINGLY!!!!!  Well, the stuffing was not as great as it could have been, but I now know what needs to be different.  And, yes, it was all gluten-free.

And that cheesecake...

Crust:
combine 1-1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs (I used gluten-free graham "style" cookies), 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and 1/3 cup melted butter.  Spread in the bottom of a 9" springform pan, pressing some up the sides to form a rim about 1/2" to 3/4' high.

Cheese batter:
2 – 8 oz. packages of cream cheese (room temperature)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
Stir cheese until soft and creamy.  Add eggs, sugar and vanilla.  Beat until thoroughly creamed and smooth.  Pour into the crust.  Bake at 350ºF for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven (it will still look pretty jiggly) and top with

the following mixture:
1 1/2 cups sour cream
4 tbs sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
Pour this mixture over the baked cheese batter and return to the oven, increasing the heat to 450ºF and bake an additional 7 minutes (it will still look pretty jiggly again).

Cool in the fridge for a couple of hours (I left mine in overnight) and enjoy!

*****
This was the kind of cheesecake you think about when you conjure up The Perfect Cheesecake.  And I made it myself.  That means that ANYone can do it!

The downside:  I ate 3/4 of the entire cheesecake single-handedly.  For real.  It took me three days to do it, but still kind of gross to do such a thing.  I enjoyed every bite.