Original New York Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

• 5 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened must be Philadelphia if you can
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 cup sour cream
• 4 eggs

Directions

1. 1

   Bring all ingredients to room temperature (this helps to prevent cracking).

2. 2

   MIX crumbs, 3 tablespoons sugar and butter;.

3. 3

   press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. (using a hamburger press handle works great for this!).

4. 4

   Bake at 325°F for 10 minutes.

5. 5

   MIX cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, flour and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.

6. 6

   Blend in sour cream. mix well

7. 7

   Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition, just until blended. Do not over mix!

8. 8

   Pour over crust.

9. 9

   Run a knife through to remove any air bubbles.

10. 10

    BAKE 1 hour and 5 minutes to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until center is almost set. 325 °F for a silver springform pan 300 °F if using a dark nonstick pan

11. 11

    Crack oven door open slightly and allow cheesecake to temper for about 30 minutes.

12. 12

    Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake;.

13. 13

    Remove rim of pan.

14. 14

    Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. (This is a must!).

15. 15

    Top with cherry pie filling and garnish, if desired.

16. 16

    Variation, 1/3 cup seedless strawberry jam can be dropped in spoonfuls over the batter and cut through the batter several times for marble effect before baking.

17. 17

    Variation #2 Cook above recipe and add 10 minutes before bake time ends. Mix 1 cup sour cream, 2 Tbsp sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla together and carefully spread over cheesecake and bake 10 minutes longer. When serving, top with mixed berries!

18. 18

    Variation #3 Before serving, melt caramels in the microwave until smooth, stir in chopped pecans in desired and spoon on top of each slice.

19. 19

    Variation #4 Before serving, Crush us peanut butter cups press lightly into top of cheescake and drizzle with chocolate syrup.

20. 20

    Variation #5 Before serving, Cut cheesecake into cubes if desired, and drizzle with melted chocolate. Refrigerate for chocolate to harden.