And I call it midnight because if it’s in your refrigerator you’ll be sneaking down in the middle of the night for a fork full. Creamy and light with a beautiful graham cracker crust. And made classic NYC style with a cool sour cream topping. Ahhhh, yes!
The funny thing about this recipe is that it was in one of my daughter's children's books. No joke! I mean, I changed it up with the addition of some tricks of the trade, but it was altogether a pretty decent recipe.
Recipe:
For the crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (you can buy these or make them by putting 2-3 packs of graham cracker cookies in your food processor until crumbled.
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
For the filling:
4 -8oz packages of cream cheese
1/2 cup vanilla greek yogurt (I used full fat, because it's just better... lol)
5 eggs
pinch of salt
3/4 cups sugar
1 T vanilla
For the topping:
2 cups sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
This cheesecake comes together fairly easy. But you have to be patient! Tools you'll need are: a 9" springform pan, some sheets of aluminum foil, and that's about it!
So, in a medium sized bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar until well combined. Press the coated crumbs into the bottom and slightly up the sides of a lightly sprayed or lightly buttered springform pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. While it cools, you'll need to start a kettle of water (you'll be giving this cheesecake a water bath later) and then add your cream cheese in your stand mixer and whip until creamy. Do not skimp on your time here... if it's not whipped well, your cheesecake will have lumps.
So here's where your patience comes in. Once the cheese is completely free of lumps, add in your sugar, salt and vanilla and again whip until completely combined. Save the eggs for last. Eggs give your cake air so adding them at the end is perfect and will keep your cake creamy. Don't overmix with the eggs- just make sure it's combined.
Now this is IMPORTANT... take the springform pan and tightly wrap the bottoms and sides with aluminum foil. Double it up if you can, This part is imperative-- if not, your crust will get soggy. Pour cream cheese mixture into the springform pan with the cracker crust. Place the springform pan into a roasting dish that has at least a 2 inch high side. Now is when you'll use that kettle of hot water. Place the roasting pan with cake into the 350 degree oven. While the pan and cake are already in the oven, pour hot water into the roasting pan to about an inch up the side of the pan. Close the oven and let the cake cook for 1 hour. After an hour there should be about a 3 inch jiggly center of the cake. This is good. Trust me. It will be fine once it cools.
Here's another step to NOT MISS... turn off the oven, prop open the oven door and place a wooden spoon on the door to keep it open and leave the cake in the oven for another hour. YOU NEED THIS STEP! Patience, remember? After about 30 minutes in the oven, combine your sour cream and sugar and vanilla in a small bowl and pour over the cake and smooth with an offset spatula. Close the oven and continue the hour of cooling in the oven. When the hour is up, pull out pan and remove the springform from the water bath. Leave the cake on your cooling tray until completely cooled. This could take another hour. PATIENCE. And then your final moment of patience is wrapping the cake- still in the springform- and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours. You MUST! lol
After this 6 hour waiting window, remove cake and pop off the springform pan. Place on a beautifully large plate, slice up and ENJOY... you deserve it!
In our home we added some melted chocolate to the tops when we served them... ya know, there's children here. My personal favorite is some sort of fruit compote. Yum! Hope y'all enjoy!
Best, Soultree