Almond Cheesecake

Almond crust and almond flavoring in the cake and topping give this cheesecake it's name. I spent five or six years making things up here, borrowing there to put this together. I've never worried about the cake cracking. Put the topping on and cracks are gone. Sometimes I finish it off with fruit and sometimes just the sour cream topping. Feel free to borrow parts of it to create your own favorite. I'm just glad it's finally all written down in logical order where I can find it.

• Ready In: 1 hr 30 mins
• Serves: 16
• Yields: 1 10inch cheesecake

Ingredients

• Filling

• 1 1⁄4 cups sugar
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 4  eggs
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1  teaspoon  almond extract

• Crust

• 4 -5  graham crackers
• 1  cup  almonds
• 1⁄4 cup white sugar or 1⁄4 cup brown sugar, your choice
• 1⁄4 cup butter, softened

• Topping

• 2  cups sour cream
• 1⁄4 sugar
• 1  teaspoon  almond extract
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1  package  ground almonds or 1  package  sliced almonds (optional)

• Fruit Topping

• 1⁄2-1  cup sugar
• 3  tablespoons cornstarch
• 1  cup water
• 2  cups  fruit, your choice
• 3  teaspoons lemon juice

Directions

1. Filling: Cream sugar and cream cheese with electric mixer.
2. Add eggs, vanilla and almond extract.
3. Beat 20 minutes.
4. Crust: Meanwhile grind graham crackers and almonds together.
5. Add sugar and butter and mix with hands.
6. Press into bottom of 10" springform pan.
7. Add filling and bake in preheated oven at 350° for 30-40 minutes.
8. Cool thoroughly on rack.
9. Topping: Mix all ingredients except almonds and beat for 5 minutes with electric mixer.
10. Pour on cooled cheesecake and bake for 5 minutes at 450°.
11. Cool.
12. If you wish to stop here you can decorate top of cake with sprinkled ground almonds or almond slices carefully placed in a pattern of your choice.
13. If you prefer you can finish the cake with a final fruit topping.
14. Fruit Topping: (Makes 3 cups) Mix sugar, cornstarch and water in saucepan.
15. Bring to boil, stirring.
16. Add fruit and lemon juice and continue cooking and stirring until thickened.
17. Let cool and pour on top of cake.