In some countries, like France, it’s customary to have cheese for dessert, because French people are fancy like that. In Wisconsin it’s customary to have cheese at practically every meal because #dairystate. Back in the day in Greece, before the Romans took over, they had combined these two wonders, that is dessert and cheese, into a singular dish: the cheesecake.
For the majority of my childhood cheesecake sounded unappetizing to me, then one family gathering later I gave it a try and my world was changed. Not really, but I discovered that cheesecake actually tastes pretty good.
Several years later I even attempted to make it once. It did not turn out and thanks to my mother’s ingenious idea of topping it with raspberry jelly and raspberry was the cake slightly salvageable.
Alas, I have attempted to make cheesecake once again and this time it had delicious results. The recipe for this cake came from- surprise surprise – Bon Appetit. Now, this cheesecake recipe is fancier than most because it calls for vanilla bean and lemon zest but it’s as the french would say, magnifique.
Right off the bat check for all the ingredients in your fridge before heading to the grocery store. I failed to open my eyes and now have more sour cream than I know what to do with. Once you’ve successfully saved some cash or stocked up on sour cream you can prepare the crust.
Let’s be honest with each other here, the crust is the best part of the entire cake, of any cheesecake really. BA suggests making the crust in a blender, which worked out great. What didn’t work out so great was making sure the crust was even spread out. Thankfully unlike with pie no one complains about having too much cheesecake crust.
Also, use parchment paper this makes it easier later on when you’re attempting and failing to transfer your masterpiece to a fancy dish.
While that’s a cooking you can begin the filling. All these ingredients need to be at room temperature to achieve maximum smoothness. Don’t use a blender though, use a mixer!
Thus begins the next set of steps which really just consist of blending, adding more ingredients and blending some more. Be warned, due to the heat caused by the mixture your filling may feel warm so try not to overmix lest you cook the eggs, which apparently is possible.
During this blend session you add lemon zest, the more the better, and vanilla bean, which is unnecessary and expensive so forgo it if you want.
Once everything is blended to your satisfaction pour into your cooled crust and bake. When the edges are slightly brown pull it out and let it cool before transferring to a dish. Set in the fridge and chill, for roughly 2-3 hours. The longer it chills the better it’ll taste, seriously warm cheese cake is not super appetizing.
When ready for serving slice and enjoy!
