Recently I celebrated an anniversary with a certain boy that I date. In lieu of buying him an actual gift, I decided to make something. What better way to show your affection than through delicious desserts? Cheesecake is a favorite of his and of mine and it had been awhile since I made one. So long that I hadn’t made one in the whole time we had dated and I thought it was high time to remedy the situation.
I looked and looked around on the internet for the perfect recipe. I wanted something creamy and smooth so I knew a New York style cheesecake was in order. After much research, I decided on a recipe from Nicole at Baking Bites: a New York Style Sour Cream Cheesecake.
My only real deviation from her recipe is that I made a different graham cracker crust instead of just putting plain graham crackers on the bottom. I love graham cracker crusts so it was important to me so have a solid, slightly sweet crust on the bottom. I did the water bath and everything – getting water into my pan (grrr!) as well. I maybe would have wrapped my pan a bit more solidly if I had known about that issue – I didn’t wrap it quite well enough to avoid the moisture. It didn’t affect the taste too much, though my crust was a little wetter than anticipated.
This was by far one of the best recipes I have used – the texture was so creamy and delicious I had to remember that I had to share. My boy quickly heralded this as the one of the best cheesecakes he’s ever put into his mouth, besides the Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes. Not too shabby, I must say.
New York Style Sour Cream Cheesecake
24-oz. cream cheese (3 cups), softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
boiling or hot water, for water bath
For crust:
24 squares graham crackers, finely crushed
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter
Preheat oven to 325F. Cover the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with a layer or two of aluminum foil and tightly press it to the sides of the pan.
Crush the graham crackers and dump into the pan. Add sugar and melted butter and mix until the butter has been incorporated. Press firmly into the pan, lining halfway up the sides. Pop into the preheated oven for about 5-10 minutes while you make the cheesecake batter.
Beat together the softened cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by all remaining ingredients.
Pour cheesecake batter into prepared pan. Place a large roasting pan (or other high-sided pan) into the oven and place cheesecake pan inside. Fill roasting pan with boiling or hot water, until water comes about 1-inch up the side of the springform pan.
Bake cake for 60-65 minutes, until center is set but still jiggles slightly when the pan is gently shaken.
Cool cake in water bath for about 1 hour in the oven with the door open. Remove from water bath and cool completely before refrigerating.
