Ingredients: |
Ingredients: THE CRUST
8 oz box graham crackers
3 TBLS sugar
Pinch salt
1/2 stick (4 TBLS) unsalted butter, melted
THE CHEESECAKE
4-8 oz pkg Philadelphia cream cheese
1 1/3 cup heavy cream
4 eggs, at room temperature
Juice of 1 large lemon
1 1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
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Directions: |
Directions:THE CRUST
Butter a 9 inch springform pan that has high sides that are at least 2 3/4 inches high and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil.
Stir the cracker crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour melted butter over and stir until all the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. Turn the ingredients into the springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs over the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Put the pan in the freezer and preheat the oven
Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake crust for 10 minutes. Set crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.
Reduce the oven to 325 degrees.
THE CHEESECAKE
Put a kettle of water on to boil.
Working with a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until soft and creamy, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat for another 4 minutes, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition. The batter should be well-aerated. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the heavy cream.
Put the foil wrapped springform pan in a roasting pan that is large enough to hold the pan with some space around it.
Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure that there is nothing left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape the batter into the springform pan. The batter will reach the rim of the pan. Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into it to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
Bake the cheese cake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, and until the top is brown and maybe cracked. It may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Let the cheesecake stand the hot water bath inside the oven for another hour.
After 1 hour, carefully pull the roasting pan out of the oven. Lift the springform pan out of the roaster and remove the aluminum foil. When the cheesecake cool, cover the top of the pan and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Remove the sides of springform pan and set cake on serving platter. |
