Lemon Sour Cream Cheesecake with Raspberries

The last (and probably first) time I made a proper, full-size, baked cheesecake was in 2001. It turned out fine, but seemed to take so many ingredients and took ages to bake and cool. We are having some missionaries from church over, and one loves cheesecake, so I thought I'd give it another try.

I don't have my 2001 recipe anymore, so after doing some checking I'm using the recipe from Your Every Day Mama. I liked the use of the lemon peel and sour cream. I only made a few modifications.

Ingredients

Crust

1 3/4 Cups ground Digestive Biscuits

6 Tablespoons butter, melted (that's about 85 grams)

2 Tablespoons sugar

Filling

2 8oz packages cream cheese, softened

1 1/4 cup sugar

zest of one lemon

1 Tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 Tablespoons flour

3 eggs, room temperature

Sour Cream Topping

1 cup sour cream

2 Tbs sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Raspberries as garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the biscuit crumbs, butter and sugar.

Cover the springform pan in foil in case the pan leaks. Press the biscuit mixture into the pan. I pushed the crust about 1/4 inch up the side. Place the crust in the oven for about 8 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Grate the lemon and juice it. (I got a tablespoon from half the lemon.)

In a mixer, combine the ingredients for the filling and combine until smooth. (I blended it for about 3-4 minutes.) Pour the filling into the cooled crust.

Now, the use of water in a roasting pan (a bain-marie/water bath of sorts) supposedly helps prevent cracks. I used one this time, but still got a crack or two. Anyway, I put the spring form pan in a roasting pan, poured in boiling water and then placed both pans in the oven.

Bake for about 60 minutes, or possibly less. The original recipe suggested cooking until the sides are tan and the middle is still loose. I baked for 55 minutes and think I may have overcooked the cheesecake, but it turned out okay. Next time I think I'll reduce the oven temperature and check the cake more often.

While the cake is cooking, mix the sour cream with sugar and vanilla. The sour cream is delicious and covers any sins/cracks/etc.

Pour the sour cream mixture on top of cake, return to the oven, shut the door and turn the oven off. Leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour, allowing it to slowly cool. Remove the cheesecake, cover it and refrigerate until serving.

Remove the spring form pan. I'm sure there's a trick to this so the cake looks smooth, but I haven't learned it yet.

Maybe someone will want to lick the pan.

Cut, serve and garnish with fresh (or in our case, frozen and then thawed) raspberries.