4 8oz packages cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 eggs
2 cups sour cream
1 stick butter, softened
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 lemon (all of the peel grated and juice from half of lemon)
*you can use lemon, orange or lime. You can also skip the use of the fruit and you can swap out the vanilla extract for any flavor extract you'd like
Crust: you can skip a crust all together with this cheesecake if you'd like
1 3/4 cup crushed cookies (graham crackers, vanilla wafers, biscoff cookies, ginger snaps, Oreos)
*it takes about 14 whole graham crackers to equal 1 3/4 cups
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar (I only add sugar if using graham crackers, not with cookies)
Mix your crushed cookies, butter and optional sugar together well and press firmly into the bottom of a buttered 9" or 10" springform pan and about an inch up the sides.
Bake the crust for 10 minutes at 300º
*when assembling your crust you have 3 options:
press all crumbs firmly on the bottom
press crumbs firmly on the bottom and up the sides of the buttered pan
press all crumbs firmly on the bottom and line the edges with whole cookies
cheesecake
Beat cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. If you didn't allow your cream cheese to come to room temp you just need to mix it longer to take the chill off so you do not have lumps in your cheese cake.
Add in sour cream, eggs, butter, corn starch, extract, lemon peel and juice and beat for 2 minutes then pour into pan or over crust.
How I assemble the water bath
I place my springform pan in a 9" silicone pan and set that down inside a roasting pan and fill with water.
Do not use the method of wrapping your springform pan in foil, it always leaks!
I have also read that you can wrap a crockpot liner bag around the bottom of your springform pan but have never tried this. This would be ideal if you do not own a silicone pan to fit your springform pan into.
Since cheesecake is somewhat of a custard consistency, baking in a water bath ensures it bakes at an even temperate and helps keep it from cracking.
Bake cheesecake for 2 hours and 15 minutes or until the top is slightly browned and set at 300º. Take out of oven and pull of water bath, allow to come to room temp for an hour or two on the counter. Chill in fridge for 3 hours or overnight before serving.
You can get creative with this recipe and add in mix ins. For example you could swap out a similar consistency item for the sour cream like 1 cup of pumpkin or 1 cup of mashed banana. You can add in chopped nuts, chocolate chips or chopped candy bars. You can top the cheesecake with pie filling or chocolate ganache or candied nuts. The combinations are endless.
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