Basic (Cream Cheese) Cheesecake

This is a basic (not overly sweet) cream cheese cheesecake recipe. "cooking time" includes the separate baking time for the crust.

• Ready In: 1 hr 33 mins
• Yields: 1 9-inch cake

Ingredients

• Crust

• 1⁄2 cup butter
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1  egg yolk
• 1⁄4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1  cup  sifted flour
• 1  teaspoon  grated lemon zest

• Filling

• 2 1⁄2 lbs cream cheese (five 8-ounce packages)
• 1 1⁄4-1 1⁄2 cups sugar
• 3  tablespoons flour
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 5  whole eggs
• 2  egg yolks
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
• 3⁄4 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1⁄4 cup heavy cream

Directions

1. Crust:
2. Cream butter and sugar together.
3. Add egg yolk and vanilla.
4. Gradually add flour and lemon zest, and mix until dough pulls away from sides of bowl.
5. Grease the bottom only of a 9-inch springform pan.
6. Pat dough evenly over the entire bottom of pan.
7. Bake bottom crust at 350°F for 5 minutes.
8. Cool completely before greasing sides of pan.
9. Filling:
10. Note: All ingredients MUST be at room temperature!
11. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar together on lowest speed until well blended, scrape sides of bowl.
12. Add flour and salt, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each.
13. Scrape bowl, then add 2 egg yolks.
14. Add vanilla, lemon zest and heavy cream, stir to mix well.
15. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in a preheated 500°F oven for 8 minutes.
16. Turn oven temperature down to 350°F and continue baking for one hour.
17. Remove from oven and cool cake completely before removing the sides of pan.
18. Refrigerate until ready to serve (at least 4 hours).
19. Note: I have never used a water bath with this recipe and have never had the cheesecake crack. Overbeating the filling and overbaking the cake is what will cause cracks.