This recipe is from a book my grandmother gave Tony several years ago called A Passion for Baking, by Marcy Goldman. The recipe in the book calls for a sour cherry glaze that I do not make. I'm a bit of a purist in my cheesecake preferences.
Graham Crust:
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/3 c. firmly packed brown sugar
pinch of ground cinnamon
2 lbs. cream cheese, softened 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 c. sugar 1/4 tsp. pure almond extract
5 large eggs 1 (10 oz.) can Nestle double cream*2 tsp. pure vanilla extract 1/4 c. all purpose flour
*You can use Double Devon Cream found online, or use a blend of 3/4 cup sour cream with 3/4 cup whipped cream folded in.
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. Toss graham crumbs, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together in the bottom of a 9-inch spring-form pan and press firmly into pan bottom. Place on prepared baking sheet.
3.In a large mixing bowl, blend cream cheese and sugar until well blended. Add eggs and next 5 ingredients and blend well, still on low speed, about 5 minutes until totally smooth. 
4. Pour into spring-form pan, drop on the counter lightly a few times so any air bubbles rise to the top, and place in oven. Back until just set, about 60 - 75 minutes.
5. Turn oven off, open oven door slightly and allow cheesecake to cool in the oven for an hour, gradually opening the door. Then, moving the cheesecake to a wire rack on the counter to reach room temperature.
6. Once the cheesecake has reached room temperature, refrigerate for 8 hours or, preferably, overnight.
Notes:
1. Somewhere, last year, when making this cheesecake for the first time, I read that cheesecake blends better if you let all of the ingredients reach room temperature before you begin to blend them all together. So I stuffed the eggs, cream cheese, lime, and butter in the microwave overnight. Then, the first thing I made was the double cream substitute and sat it on the stove while the oven preheated. The cats wouldn't have allowed the double cream to sit out untouched overnight.
2. Mix everything thoroughly. The crumbs for the crust, mix them until every little crumb is dark with moisture from the butter, or you will have dry clumps of graham cracker crumbs in your crust.
3. Mix everything thoroughly. It says to mix the cheesecake batter for 5 minutes. I find it takes a little longer to get all of the lumps out of the mixture. This is good, though. You can justify eating it later by the workout you had to do to make it.
4. I omit the almond extract. I don't like it. And, I substituted lime juice for lemon juice.
5. I wrap the bottom of my inherited spring-form pan with aluminum foil. I find some of the butter from the crust tries to leak out and the aluminum foil protects it from spilling into my oven.
6. I struggle with some of the cooking terminology and really can't identify when a cake is "just set." So, I watched for the edge of the cake to start browning. It's a little harder as I didn't open the oven door, rather looking through the discolored oven window. It seems to have worked to get the cheesecake to the right consistency without cracking.
7. I did not take the spring-form pan off until it had been refrigerated. I do not know if it makes a difference or not.
Ratings:
Sandy: 4.5 stars
The texture was perfectly creamy. The crust was thick and buttery. The only imperfection were a few air bubbles that rose to the top in cooking, making it look like fish eyes in the cake. It was a real treat, and worth every minute of the hours of silence while it cools.
Tony: 5 stars
Light and fluffy, creamy and smooth. Melts in your mouth like butter, stays in your love handles like cement.The only thing better than chocolate is cheesecake. For my birthday, nothing makes me happier than a good cheesecake. Best ever hands down.
Cost:
I confess, I didn't keep the receipts from my grocery shopping and this is from memory.
Cream cheese - 4 blocks - $8, but it was on sale 2/$4
I made the whipping cream by buying heavy cream and whipping it up. - $2.50
Sour cream - $1
Graham cracker crumbs - $3
Eggs - $2 for a dozen
Butter, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and flour are all staples in our home.
Sandy
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