Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Cake:
1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter (or margarine)
19 ounces of softened cream cheese (3 packages)
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons of lemon rind.
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
A 9" springform pan.

The glaze requires:
1 cup of mashed fruit
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup water

Step 1:

I bought graham crackers and crushed them myself to make the required 1.5 cups of crumbs. It's possible to buy actual graham cracker crumbs at the store, but mashing them is more enjoyable.

To mash the graham crackers, I just put them in a plastic bag and punched away.

Before you do anything else though, preheat the oven for 350 degrees.

Mix the crumbs and the sugar together VERY well. When I had all the crumbs I needed, I just put them back in the plastic bag and added the sugar. Then I just shook it around. When you get it mixed, add the melted butter and stir until you have buttery crumb stuff. It's not going to be thick and paste-like by any means. The crumbs will just be coated.

Once you mix everything VERY well, pour the crumbs into the spring form pan and form the crust. Make sure the sides and bottom are coated very well. It's not going to be completely solid, so be EXTREMELY careful when you move the pan around.

For future reference, a spring form pan is similar to a regular cake pan. The sides of the pan are locked on to the bottom, and can be removed. It would be an extremely bad idea to try making a cheesecake in a regular pan, as the crust is really fragile and whatnot.

Step 2:

When you get the crust finished, CAREFULLY put it in the heated oven for 10 minutes. It should turn a bit darker, and will hold it's form quite a bit better. Put this somewhere to cool off. When the crust is done, lower the temperature of the oven to 300 degrees.

Step 3:

Dump the cream cheese into a mixing bowl (or mixing pot in my case). You want to beat it with an electric mixer until it gets smooth.

Step 4:

Gradually add the sugar as you do this. It will turn into this:

Step 5:

Add the lemon peel and vanilla. Then beat each egg in one at a time.

Step 6:

The filling is done. The crust is done. Pour the mixture onto the crust. Then place into the oven you preheated to 350 degrees F.

If you want your cake to have a smooth glassy top like bakery cheescakes do, you need to cook the cake in a water bath. To do this place an inch or so of water in a larger pan and then set the springform pan inside of it. This will prevent the top of the cake from cracking while cooking. Please note that I didn't use this technique in this recipe.

Step 7:

After an hour of baking, you get this:

You'll know when it's done when you see the top starting to get brown. The cake should still be a bit wobbly in the middle. Place it in the fridge for a few hours.

Step 8:

The glaze is simple: Just mix everything in a saucepan and heat it up until it starts to boil. I used the same smashing technique on the berries that I did with the graham crackers.

I personally prefer fresh fruit on cheesecake as opposed to just a glaze. The original recipe called for strawberries only, but I mixed rasberries, strawberries and blackberries together. I heard that cherries work well with this recipe as well.

Step 9:

When everything cools down, just remove the sides of the spring form pan, pour the glaze on and pile on the leftover fresh fruit if you want. THEN DEVOUR IT!