This is baking in my oven as I type. It is a pain to make but absolutely awesome!! I combined about 4 recipes and consulted with a chef to get this right.
Awesome Cheesecake
Crust:
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, finely crushed (measure after crushing)
½ cup almonds, crushed (measure before crush)
¼ tsp Almond extract
6 TBL butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350. Grease the bottom and sides of a deep spring form pan. Mix all of the above in a bowl. Press firmly and evenly into the bottom of the spring form pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool completely (refrigerate if necessary).
Filling:
3 – 8 ounce packages cream cheese
1-1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs, slightly beaten
Zest of 1 lemon
1 TBS lemon juice (fresh is preferred)
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBS flour
1 TBS cornstarch
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. All ingredients must be at room temperature. Cream the cheese until soft. Blend in the sugar gradually. Add eggs and beat mixture well. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract and mix well. Sift flour and cornstarch into the mixture and mix well. In a separate bowl, beat the whipping cream on high until just before it forms peaks. Fold the whipping cream into the cream cheese mixture with a spatula. Pour onto the cooled crust. Turn oven down to 325 degrees and bake the cheesecake for 1 hour. Turn oven off and let the cheesecake stand in the oven for 2 hours. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Loosen edges with a knife and remove the side of the pan. Refrigerate (best served when chilled). It gets better the second day!
Optional: sprinkle top with thinly sliced almonds before serving.
Awesome Cheesecake
Crust:
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, finely crushed (measure after crushing)
½ cup almonds, crushed (measure before crush)
¼ tsp Almond extract
6 TBL butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350. Grease the bottom and sides of a deep spring form pan. Mix all of the above in a bowl. Press firmly and evenly into the bottom of the spring form pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool completely (refrigerate if necessary).
Filling:
3 – 8 ounce packages cream cheese
1-1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs, slightly beaten
Zest of 1 lemon
1 TBS lemon juice (fresh is preferred)
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBS flour
1 TBS cornstarch
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. All ingredients must be at room temperature. Cream the cheese until soft. Blend in the sugar gradually. Add eggs and beat mixture well. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract and mix well. Sift flour and cornstarch into the mixture and mix well. In a separate bowl, beat the whipping cream on high until just before it forms peaks. Fold the whipping cream into the cream cheese mixture with a spatula. Pour onto the cooled crust. Turn oven down to 325 degrees and bake the cheesecake for 1 hour. Turn oven off and let the cheesecake stand in the oven for 2 hours. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Loosen edges with a knife and remove the side of the pan. Refrigerate (best served when chilled). It gets better the second day!
Optional: sprinkle top with thinly sliced almonds before serving.
