Mascarpone Cheesecake With Strawberries

Got this recipe from a magazine called "Tastes of Italia" and wanted to post this for safe keeping. I ran a test drive on it, and let's just say it was all eaten up in a flash. It is an unusual recipe since the key ingredient is mascarpone giving the desert a creamy texture, and the lemon zest and juice gives it a citriusy zing. Topped with strawberries and you are in heaven...

• Ready In: 1 hr 25 mins
• Serves: 10
• Yields: 1 cake

Ingredients

• For the Crust

• 2 1⁄2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
• 4  tablespoons  melted butter
• 1⁄4 cup brown sugar
•  water, as needed to form crust

• For the Filling

• 3 (8 ounce) packages mascarpone cheese, softened
• 3  eggs
• 3⁄4 cup sugar
• 2  teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1  teaspoon lemon zest
• 1  teaspoon vanilla extract

• For the Topping

• 1  cup sour cream
• 1⁄3 cup sugar
•  strawberry (to garnish)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. To make the crust:.
3. In a medium bowl combine the graham crackers, melted butter and brown sugar. Add water, one teaspoon at a time, until mixture is crumbly. Press onto bottom and sides of a slightly greased 9 inch springform pan. Refridgerate until ready to use.
4. To make Filling: In a mixing bowl, combine mascarpone, eggs, sugar, lemon juice, zest and extract. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Pour filling into crust and bake for about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and increase oven temperature to 450°F At this point you may want to lower the oven rack to bottom.
5. To make the topping: Whisk together sour cream and sugar until combined and lightly spread on top of cheesecake. Becareful because the cheesecake will not be firm and you need a light hand when spreading the sourcream. Return to oven for another 15 minutes. Let cool on rack for 3- minutes, then refridgerate for at least 4 hours before removing from pan.
6. Top with fresh strawberries.