Best Ever Cheesecake-Woman's Day Dessert Lover's Cookbook 1981

This recipe has been a family favorite since, well, 1981. I have hung on to this Woman's Day magazine since then mainly for easy access to this recipe. It is one of the few recipes for cheesecake with a short crust as opposed to a graham cracker crust. I suppose you could substitute the graham cracker crust if you must, but this is so good you probably won't want to. It makes a large cheesecake, so don't be alarmed by the 40 ounces of cream cheese it needs. It is worth every ounce. I am submitting the recipe as written, but we substitute canned cherry pie filling for the pineapple topping given here. Use your fruit topping of choice, please. Also, some recommend putting a pan of hot water in the bottom rack of the oven during baking to prevent cracks...please do that if you want to. We usually just top the cheesecake cracks with our fruit topping and go for it.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 15 mins
• Serves: 16
• Yields: 1 9-inch cheesecake

Ingredients

• Crust

• 1  cup all-purpose flour
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1  egg yolk
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1⁄4 cup butter or 1⁄4 cup margarine, softened

• Cream Cheese Filling

• 5 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 3⁄4 cups sugar
• 3  tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4  teaspoons lemon zest
• 6  eggs
• 1⁄2 cup milk
• 2  teaspoons vanilla extract

• Pineapple Topping

• 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple
• 5  teaspoons cornstarch
• 1  teaspoon vanilla extract
•  strawberry slices (optional)

Directions

1. In bowl combine flour, sugar and lemon zest. Make a well in center; add egg yolk, vanilla and butter. Blend with finger tips or fork until mixture resembles a crumbly rich cookie dough.
2. Divide dough into 2 parts, one part slightly larger than the other. Grease a 9-inch spring-form pan; remove rim. Shape the smaller part of the dough into a ball; place in the botton of pan, Top with waxed paper; roll to edge, reserving any excess dough. remove paper.
3. Bake in preheated 400F oven 6-8 minutes; cool.
4. Divide remaining half of dough into 4 parts; roll each part between 2 pieces of waxed paper into 3x8 inch strips. Reassemble springorm pan. Remove top sheet of waxed paper from each pastry strip. Place one strip of pastry at a time along inside rim of pan, press against rim, remove paper. Repeat with remaining pastry strips, overlapping ends each time and pressing to seal.
5. Cheesecake Filling:
6. In large bowl of mixer beat cream cheese, sugar, flour and lemon zest until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time., until thouroughly combined. Stir in milk and vanilla.
7. Spoon Cream Cheese Filling into pan. Bake in a preheated 450F oven 10 minutes. Reduce oven to 250F and bake 1 hour and 20 minutes longer.
8. Cool on wire rack until completely cooled.
9. Pineapple Topping:
10. In small saucepan combine pineappple and cornstarch. Cook and stir until mixture bols and thickens. Stir in vanilla, cool.
11. Spread Pineapple Topping over cheesecake. Cover lightly and refrigerate until cold. Loosen crust from pan with knife or spatula. Remove rim. Garnish with sliced strawberries, if desired. Makes about 16 servings.