Cheesecake

While we were in San Diego my Aunt Sally made this delicious cheesecake. The recipe comes from my new aunt Mary Jane and her sister. I used to hate cheesecake, but my tastes changed on my last trip to San Diego in 2003. I went to the Cheesecake Factory with my Aunt Sally and ended up ordering their Godiva chocolate cheesecake and that was when it went all downhill from there. Maybe that is one reason I have had a weight problem since then...

I ended up making this recipe last night to take as a housewarming dessert to our friends Mike and Taemi. Now my aunt told me this is a foolproof recipe and hers doesn't crack (and hers was gorgeous). However when I took mine out of the oven it had a crack the size of the Grand Canyon. Oh well - it should taste just as great! One of the problems could be that she used a 10in pan, whereas I only have a 9in pan. This recipe was also way too much for a 9in pan, but luckily for me I have a set of mini 4in pans so I was able to make an additional 3 mini cheesecakes with the batter. I brought 2 to work and left one at home for Kris. :)

Let me know your cheesecake secrets if you have any! I have a chocolate recipe to try but need a destination for it first because it can't sit around my house.

Ingredients:
4 8oz packages cream cheese
2 c. sugar
16oz sour cream
6 eggs
2 t vanilla
***All ingredients should be at room temperature***

Graham cracker crust:
2 c crumbs
2 T sugar
1 stick butter (can use less - just need to get crumbs wet so they stick together)

Directions:
1. Prepare graham cracker crust and press into springform pan (could do oreo crust if you prefer)
2. Preheat oven to 350.
3. Cream together the sugar and cream cheese.
4. Add in sour cream
5. Mix in eggs, one at a time
6. Add vanilla
7. Be careful not to overbeat (but who knows how much that means)
8. Pour into graham cracker crust
9. Put a pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven
10. Bake cheesecake for 45 min. After 45 minutes, turn oven off and leave cheesecake in oven 1 hour longer and don't open the door during cooking. For the mini cheesecakes, I baked them 30 minutes and still left them in oven for an hour.
11. Remove cheesecake from oven and put directly into refrigerator UNCOVERED for 24 hours

Serve with whatever toppings you like and enjoy!!