My Cheesecake!

I borrowed this picture from gourmetfood.com

So this actually happened last night, but I was too tired to write...

I've only made two to three other cheesecakes in my entire married life, all were no-bakes. Well, after a successful run with the molten lava cakes last Monday, I was spurred on to make a cheesecake! Last night, as a dessert to feed the missionaries. I chose a good old-fashioned New York cheesecake! Only, since I'm a complete buffoon when it comes to reading while stirring, I didn't realize that I was missing an ingredient- great! What to do, what to do?

Well, I couldn't back out after pulling out from the pantry my three size-never been used-springform pans, plus all the other ingredients were already on the table! So I plug on... I even sent Lisa next door to see if I can swap to another recipe, came back with just a squirt of what I needed, so again, I was left to improvise!

(Sorry, there was no time to take a picture, it took over an hour; just in time to give the missionaries after they ate dinner.)

Here's what I did: I substituted milk with sugar for condensed milk and added lemon juice since I only had a squirt of sour cream. The result was a fluffy and light cheesecake! The missionaries and my family all had seconds! If it wasn't a tall cheesecake to begin with, we wouldn't have any leftovers. As it is, the leftover was just enough for one serving. What a great and wonderful accident! (Yes, I was cautious; I only gave each missionary and my family a taste and let them decide if they wanted more.) Mine barely cooled; it was my very first attempt at a baked cheesecake, and I had no other time to let it cool down more. It still tasted great, I was even impressed!

So, I accidentally made my very own cheesecake recipe! How cool is that?!

CANDY'S Cheesecake

Crust:

6-8 graham crackers or chocolate flavored grahams

5 tbsp. melted butter

1 1/4 cup sugar

Batter:

4 blocks of cream cheese (Neufchatel variety)

1 cup of milk

1 1/4 cups of flour

1 1/4 cups of sugar (less if desired)

Fresh juice of 1/2 large lemon

1 tsp. lemon rind

1 1/2 tbsp. sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

4 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees

2. Crush the graham crackers in a blender; dump into a bowl and add in sugar and melted butter. Mix until all stuck together. Spread flat at the bottom of a 9-in springform pan. Refrigerate until the batter is ready to be poured.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs in with sugar and milk. Blend until one consistency. Set aside.

4. In a big mixing bowl, put in all the cream cheese and whip until creamy. Add in the vanilla and milk slurry. Blend until well mixed.

5. Add in the sour cream, lemon rind and juice and blend until well mixed.

6. Pour in the batter into the cooled crust and place the springform pan onto a shallow baking pan.

7. Place the baking pan into the oven and pour in water to create a water bath.

8. Bake for 75 minutes.

9. Let cool for another hour before releasing from the pan.

You can make this a day ahead and the cooled cheesecake would taste just as good. Remember to heat up the knife before cutting, to minimize the mess.

Don't be fooled by the fluffiness, remember the ingredients that went into it. For you who wants to stay trim, a sliver would be enough. That's all I had, though it took all my will power to resist. It's all about how we savor the flavor...