Gourmet Cheesecake

Submitted by pies & cakes & cookies ohmy!

"Found this recipe in a pile of magazine clippings and it was so elaborate, I had to try it. The finished product is a gigantic HEAVY cake that will truly impress anyone."

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 20mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Yields: 1 10
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• Cookie Crust

• 1⁄2 cup butter
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1⁄2 cups flour

• Cheesecake filling

• 3 1⁄2 lbs cream cheese (that's 7, 8 oz. pkgs.!)
• 2 1⁄4 cups sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1⁄2 cup flour

directions

1. Prepare cookie crust: Place butter and sugar in mixer bowl and mix till fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping often. Add yolks and mix thoroughly. Add vanilla and salt, and then flour. Allow to mix till it forms a ball and then remove from bowl and place on floured surface. Roll into a circle and place bottom of 10" springform pan over dough and cut around it with a knife a little smaller (about 1/4") than the pan bottom. Transfer to cookie sheet covered with parchment and bake at 350° for 15-18 minutes or till JUST browned on edges. Cool completely.

2. For Filling:

3. Place softened cream cheese in mixer bowl and mix till smooth--this takes patience, because it's a lot of cream cheese and you have to scrape and work with it to get it mushed together --
4. Add sugar and flour and mix thoroughly. Add eggs one at a time mixing between each one, and then add sour cream and vanilla.
5. Butter sides of springform pan and place cookie crust in the bottom--trim to fit if needed. Pour filling on top of crust and smooth the top. Bake in a 350° oven for 90 minutes and then reduce heat to 325° for another 15-20 minutes to set center. Turn oven off and leave cake inside -- prop door open and allow cake to cool completely, then remove, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate till serving time. Top with fresh fruit or canned pie filling, or fresh whipped cream.

Reviews

[cpace]

This is THE BEST Gourmet Cheesecake recipe EVER! This cheesecake is exactly like what you would recieve at a 5STAR. The slices are dense and deliciously creamy. A fresh fruit topping would be the perfect compliment to this. This recipe is RAVED at dinner parties. The finished product is very heavy so be prepared if traveling with it. Excellent shape and color throughout. The crust is not "crusty" or dry either. The cake cooks evenly.

 

[meg.tocantins]

I've been looking for this Gourmet Magazine recipe for years, after I lost my mother's Gourmet cookbook from the 60's. It's not exactly the way I remember it, but very, very close. The crust is the most complicated part, but you don't have to use this crust recipe. I use a crushed vanilla wafer crust that is delicious. (I hate graham crackers.) The cheesecake filling is incredibly rich -- a recipe for a dinner party from back when we weren't afraid of fat. I add a two tablespoons of fresh lemon zest to the filling. Make it the day before; it needs to sit in the refrigerator overnight, I top it with fresh strawberries with sugar and cherry brandy, but pretty much anything is good on it, if you even need a topping. Every time I serve it someone says, "wow, I can't remember the last time I had really good cheesecake." Go for it, you'll love it.