Simple Lemon Cheesecake

This was posted in the Montreal Gazette. Some one had requested a cheesecake made from the restaurant Franny's that has been closed for quite some time now. This is in time for Shavuot, which requires Jews to eat dairy during the holiday.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 20 mins
• Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• Crust

• 1  cup graham cracker crumbs
• 2  tablespoons brown sugar
• 2  tablespoons  melted unsalted butter

• Cheese filling

• 1  lb cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2⁄3 cup granulated sugar
• 1⁄2 cup sour cream
• 3  eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
• 2  tablespoons lemon juice
• 1  teaspoon  grated lemon zest
• 1  teaspoon vanilla extract

• Cheesecake topping

• 3⁄4 cup sour cream
• 3  tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1⁄3 cup  whipping cream

Directions

1. For the crust:.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees f. Lightly butter an 8 inch springform pan.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine crumbs with sugar, then with butter and press mixture int bottom of pan, packing it down with the base of a flat glass.
4. Bake until golden about seven to ten minutes.
5. For the Cheese filling:
6. Keep the oven at 400 degrees F.
7. In a medium bowl combine cream cheese and sugar blending until smooth. Blend in sour cream. Stir in beaten eggs, one third at a time. Stir in lemon juice, zest, and vanilla, blending well.
8. Pour into baked crust and place in oven. Immediately turn heat down to 300 degrees F and bake for one hour or until cake begins to rise on the sides.
9. Turn oven off. Open oven door and let cake sit in oven for another 30 minutes. Remove, set on rack.
10. For cheesecake topping:.
11. have the oven at 350 degrees F.
12. In a medium bowl, combine all three ingredients, blending with a spoon until smooth.
13. Spread over top of baked cheesecake. If cake has cracks, use topping to fill in the spaces.
14. Bake until set, about 15 minutes. Cool completely before removing side of springform pan. Chill until ready to serve.
15. Cheesecake can be wrapped closely in plastic and refrigerated for about four days or frozen two weeks. served chilled with fresh fruit or fruit coulis.