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| Farmhouse Cheesecake I love this plain and simple recipe. But I do love a chocolate crust, too! |
This past week I was surprised when I heard our granddaughter, Avah, soon to be eight years old, asking for cheesecake with strawberries for her birthday cake. I’m surprised, but maybe I shouldn’t be. The family has gone to the Cheesecake Factory for celebrations prior and she loves their cheesecake. So do I.
Many years ago when I was a new bride in 1975, I first made this fantastic cheesecake from a recipe in the cookbook Mom gave me as my wedding shower gift. I especially love the sweet cream topping smeared on the top of this version after it’s baked. It’s the tantalizing sweet and sour that rouses one’s taste buds. Yum. It beats a Jell-O brand instant cheesecake hands down.
Over the years, I never owned a spring form pan to bake it in as the recipe called for. Last summer, though, I just happened to find a new one at a yard sale for a dollar. So I snatched it up. After having one, I admit, “It’s all about having the right tool that makes a job easy.” A butter knife always was a substitute for a real screwdriver in a pinch when you can’t locate a screwdriver around my house, UGH, but when those battery packed screwdrivers came along it sure made it easy. And a spring form pan makes it easy to serve a lovely first piece of cheesecake by removing the tin sides. This way you present a lovely first piece instead of one that comes out destroyed! all cobbled up as you try to dig it out of a standard pie plate with a square spatula. (Yes, I’ve done that many times.) Get a pie spatula made for serving pies. I tell you it makes all the difference.
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| It took over 40 Years to finally buy waiting on that bargain! A yard sale find for $1; new in the plastic bag. |
Instead of a standard graham cracker crust I found this recipe for a dark chocolate crust. We girls like chocolate, don’t we? I read dark chocolate has many health benefits too. Don’t laugh…its true! I wouldn’t kid you. LOL. It can lower blood pressure among 6 other benefits, but the best is it just tastes so darn good. This recipe, with or without a spring -form pan, is delicious. Oh, and I might add, she picked Texas Roadhouse for her dinner celebration. All grown up. No Chucky Cheese for her. I think she likes throwing the peanut hulls on the floor and not having to clean it up! Go figure. I like that place, too. Love that girl!
Sinful Chocolate Crust
1 1/3 Cups chocolate wafer crumbs
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
Stir together thoroughly. Press mixture evenly on the bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.
Sherry’s Farmhouse Cheesecake
Reduce Oven Temperature to 300 degrees.
2 large and 1 small package of room temperature cream cheese.
1-cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind; ½ teaspoon vanilla
3 room temperature farm fresh eggs
Cream together cheese, sugar, lemon rind and vanilla until fluffy.
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| If you don’t like the sour cream topping, go with your choice, cherries, blueberries, chocolate drizzle? |
Add eggs, one at a time. Pour over crumb mixture.
Bake 1 hour or until center is firm.(Don’t over bake. It will firm up when chilled.)
Cool to room temperature.
Topping
1-cup sour cream and 2 tablespoons sugar
Mix together then spread on top of cheesecake.
Chill for at least 3 hours. Serves 8 large slices or 12 skinny slices.
So Here’s the Thing…New is good. I like new. I like heated vinyl seats in cars, that’s new. An improvement for sure, especially on a cold winter’s day. I like all the many “new” and different varieties of cheesecakes. Did you know there is even a Red Velvet Cheesecake? I must try it soon. But truth is, I’m a simple farm girl from the sixties. I do, I do, I do, love the above cheesecake, plain and simple. I loved the original graham cracker crust initially, but when I heard dark chocolate is good for you, (I saw it on FB so it must be true) it was a no-brainer to change this recipe up. I mean, ,after all, cheese is good for you, eggs are good for you and dark chocolate is good for you. So, if ever there was a GOOD FOR YOU DESSERT, this is it.
Take Joy!
Sherry
