Eric Stendal

We had a little hankering for some cheesecake the other day. Well, okay, “I” had the hankering…..

I found this recipe online and decided to give it whirl. It turned out very, very well I must say. The cheesecake was creamy, stable, not cloyingly sweet, the crust was superb and firm. I made a strawberry compote to drizzle over the slices of cheesecake and it was harmoniously tasty with the cheesecake.

Ingredients

Cheesecake Crust

2-1/4 cups graham wafer crumbs
1-1/2 sticks of butter, melted
6 tbsp white sugar

Cheesecake

4 x 8oz blocks cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 tsp kosher salt

Strawberry Compote

2 – 3 cups frozen strawberries
1-1/2 tbsp icing sugar for every one cup strawberries

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 325°. Prepare an 8” springform pan.
   Butter or grease the pan all over and set aside.
2. In a large bowl using a hand mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer), beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla and sour cream. Add flour and salt and beat until just combined.
3. Pour the filling over the crust. Cover the bottom of the springform pan with aluminum foil, then place in a large roasting pan. Pour in enough boiling water to come up halfway in the baking pan. Carefully transfer the pan to the oven.
4. Bake cake until just slightly jiggly, about 1 hour 30 minutes. When the pan is lightly shaken, only the inner two to three inches should jiggle like jello while the outside remains more firm. Turn the oven off, prop oven door open, and let cool for 1 hour. Finally, transfer to the fridge and chill until the cake is completely cool, 5 hours and up to overnight.