VB's Simple Cheesecake

Submitted by bidness44

"This is a very simple recipe that I adapted from several different sources, enjoy!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 lemon, zest of
• 1 pre-made graham cracker crust, 6 oz
• 3⁄4 - 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1⁄4 teaspoon vanilla

directions

1. Unwrap cream cheese blocks and put in mixing bowl. Set aside to soften at room temperature.
2. Once it's softened, preheat your oven to 325°.
3. Beat softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until completely blended.
4. Add your eggs and the lemon zest. Beat until blended.
5. Place Graham cracker crust on a small baking sheet to keep it stabilized. Pour batter into your Graham cracker crust, smooth with a spatula. (Be sure to scrape the bowl and beaters well.) Place in your 325° oven and set timer for 30 minutes.
6. While it's baking, prepare your topping. You can use the same bowl and beaters that you made your filling with. Pour your sour cream, sugar and vanilla into the bowl and beat it until well blended and completely smooth.
7. After 30 minutes, remove from oven. Pour your sour cream topping gently over the top. Smooth very carefully with a rubber spatula.
8. Return the cake to your oven, set your timer for 10 minutes.
9. After 10 minutes, jiggle it a little bit. If it is not quite set in the very center, turn the oven off and leave it for 2 minutes and check again. You shouldn't have to do this more than once, maybe twice, if your oven is very slow. Once you're satisfied, take it out of the oven and let it cool completely.
10. Refrigerate for at least 2 or 3 hours before serving.

11. Notes:

12. *I remove the cream cheese from the wrapper while it's still cold, because once it's softened up it's harder to get out of the wrapper. Just leave it on the counter until the cream cheese is soft.
13. *I simply use the zest from one lemon. It's easier than trying to measure one fiddly teaspoons of zest. Besides, we really like lemon. In our experience, it doesn't really make this recipe over- lemony at all.
14. *I use a micro plane for zesting the lemon. The smaller grains of lemon zest blend especially well for a small batch recipe like this. If you don't have a microplane, I highly recommend you get one, they are indispensable for zesting citrus, grating garlic, et cetera. The plane itself is easy to clean, dishwasher safe, but don't put the sliding plastic cover in the dishwasher.
15. *I use a simple electric handmixer for this recipe. There's no need to drag out the big heavy stand mixer for this.
16. *If you want fruit, about a 1/2 cup of berries or sliced strawberries should suffice for this recipe.
17. *Keep the plastic insert from the pie crust packaging to use as a lid for your cooled and finished pie.