Cheescake Cockaigne

From the kitchen of:  Christa Dastrup

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 pounds cream cheese

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla or 1/2 tsp almond extract 

• 3 large eggs

    Topping:

• 1 cup sour cream

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1 tablespoon vanilla

• 1/8 teaspoon salt.

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Use with the Graham Cracker Crust recipe.

• Have all ingredients at room temperature (important!).  Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees.  In a medium bowl, beat cheese until creamy (about 30 seconds).  Gradually beat in sugar and vanilla.  Beat in eggs 1 at a time, just until incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl and the beaters after each addition.  (Don’t overbeat, helps avoid air bubbles and cracking while cheesecake cools.)

• Scrape the batter into the crust and smooth the top.  Place on a cookie sheet.  Bake until the center just barely jiggles when the pan is tapped, 45-55 minutes.  Let cool in the pan on a rack for at least one hour.  

• Combine topping ingredients and spread over the cake.  Let cool completely in the pan on a rack before unmolding.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, preferably 24 hours, before serving.  

• Blueberry topping, just take a bag of frozen blueberries (or a pint of fresh when they're in season) and heat them with a little bit (maybe 2-4 TBSP) water, around 1 TBSP cornstarch, some sugar (1/3- 1/2 cup?) and a pinch of cinnamon.  Just make it up as you go.  It's hard to go wrong.