New York Cheese Cake

New York Cheese Cake
SERVES: 8
PREPARATION: 20 MINS
COOKING: 65 MINS

I have had this Vogue Entertaining & Travel magazine sitting around since....oh it's the June/July Issue from 2005! and I have NEVER made anything from it until now....(hangs head in shame!) 

This was a nice easy recipe and my first EVER real cheese cake, if you don't count the packet ones I used to make when I was a teenager :) Oh and did I mention absolutely delicious!!!

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cups Graham Crackers crumbs (What? don't know what these are! so I used crumbed Arnott's Marie Biscuits *shrug* lol)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup melted unsalted butter 

750g cream cheese at room temperature

4 eggs

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

grated zest of 1 lemon

2 cups of sour cream

Method

Preheat oven to 180C. Mix the biscuit crumbs with 1/4 cup sugar and the melted butter (oops I didn't add the sugar!) and press into the bottom and sides of a 23cm ungreased 23cm   spring form cake pan. Chill while preparing filling.

Beat the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, eggs, 2 teaspoons of the vanilla, and the lemon zest until smooth. Pour into chilled crust and bake for 50 minutes to an hour, or until the cheese is set and starting to turn golden in spots. Remove from the oven (leave oven on) and cool for about 15 minutes on a wire rack. 

Stir together the sour cream, remaining sugar (ahhh this is where I added 1/2 cup instead of 1/4 cup) and vanilla and spread over cooled cake. Return to the oven for 12 minutes until glossy and set. Cool completely, cover, and chill for at least 8 hours. 

My Notes

Silly mistake not adding the sugar to the biscuit crumbs!

oh and I added 3/4 cup melted butter to the biscuit crumbs as 1/2 cup wasn't enough. 

When your at the shop getting the sour cream....choose the plain type...I bought 2 tubs of garlic and parsley sour cream! 

another tip is when making a baked cheesecake is to place a small bowl of water in the oven to stop the cheesecake from drying out & cracking.