Sour Cream Cheesecake
The recipe came from Lisa Groene, a technician who worked at the University of Georgia Marine Institute when we were living on Sapelo Island. This makes a 10-inch cheesecake, but the ingredients can be cut down by 1/3 for a smaller springform pan. The cheesecake is almost as good as the New York version. Makes an elegant dessert for special occasions.
A) Prepare the graham cracker crust:
2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted margarine (can melt in microwave in ceramic dish on low power)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Mix all of the above ingredients and pat evenly into a 10-inch spring-form pan, over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Or, you can buy a box of graham cracker crust mix and follow the directions on the box to make the crust.
(You could also use 8-inch cracker crumb pie shells and divide the recipe into two pie shells, the cooking time will probably be shorter if so)
B) Prepare the cheesecake filling:
3 eight-oz packages of cream cheese (you can use lower fat Neufchatel cream cheese), softened at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1) Preheat oven to 300 oF
2) Beat softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in electric mixer (can also beat by hand)
3) Add eggs while beating, one at a time
4) When thoroughly mixed, pour into graham cracker crust in the pan. (I put the springform pan on a cookie tray for ease in getting it into and out of the oven)
5) Bake cheesecake at 300 oF for 60 minutes, until firm in the center
6) Remove cheesecake from oven and increase oven temperature to 350 oF
C) Prepare the sour cream topping:
One 16-oz container of sour cream (can use low fat sour cream)
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1) Mix these together and spread over top of cheesecake
2) Bake for 5-10 minutes at 350oF to set sour cream topping, just until firm but not brown.
3) Cool cheesecake and refrigerate until served.
Can serve cheesecake slices topped with a few spoonfulls of canned cherry pie or blueberry pie filling.