Bleacher Bums Forum

Let me see if I can remember off the top of my head...

crust -
2 cups crushed gram crackers
1 stick unsalted butter
dash or two cimmamon

Melt butter and mix it all together.  Put it in 9" spring form pan coated with melted butter or lined with parchment paper.  Press in the bottom and about an inch up the sides.  Place this in the fridge so it can get firmed up and hard.

Preheat oven to 325.

Batter -
16 oz room temp cream cheese (two 8 oz blocks)
16 oz sour cream
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 zest of lemon
dash a vanilla extract

I use a kitchenaid stand mixer.  Mix sour cream so it can coat the sides of the bowl.  This help to keep the cream cheese from sticking to the sides.  Add the two blocks of cream cheese to the sour cream and mix on medium until smooth and lumps are gone.  Add the three eggs one at a time to the mix and incorporate.  Slowly add the cup of sugar while the mixer is running.  Zest the whole lemon and mix that in too.  Put this in the pan.  In the mean time get a pot of water boiling.  Wrap the spring form pan in aluminum so water can not seep in.  Place this pan inside a deep roasting pan and pour the boiling water around the spring form pan.  Make sure not to get any water in your cake. 

Bake this in the oven for about 45 min.  It will be ready to take out when you can giggle it and the center giggles but springs back.  Take out of oven and water bath and let it cool for about an hour at room temp.  You can then take the cake out of the spring pan and cool in the fridge for about 5 hours and it will firm up.

When its cooled in the fridge you are ready to eat it.  You can top it with whatever you want.  That one in my picture was just canned cheery pie filling.  I have cooked down some blueberry's with some sugar and juice of one lemon.  Use mixed berries.  Sliced strawberry's.  Strawberry's that you would use for strawberry shortcake....

Whatever you want.

Now google "Tyler Florence ultimate cheesecake" and see how close I came to remembering it correctly.

It's so **** easy to make I will never blow my cash on cheesecake factory or store bought cheese cake again.  Cheap as **** to make and easy as hell.  The profit they are making off one cake is highway robbery.