Cheesecake

This was my first attempt at making cheesecake. At first I was going to do it in the crock pot, but I didn't have enough time so converted it to the oven. It is loosely based on this recipe: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/07/crockpot-cheesecake-recipe.html

This fits in a standard 8 inch spring form pan. It is a short cake though, about 1 inch tall.

Crust:

10 graham crackers crushed to crumbs (I used a food processor, but a rolling pin and a ziplock bag would work too)

4 T butter, melted

Filling:

16 oz cream cheese (I used neufchatel as it's 1/3 the calories and tastes the same)

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 T flour

Heat oven to 350 F.

Mix crumbs and butter until mixture is wet and butter is evenly distributed. It will still be sort of dry looking, but darker. Press into the bottom of spring form pan. Mix ingredients of filling slowly. I had to let the mixer work on it for several minutes so that it had a smooth consistency like frosting. You need a hand mixer or kitchen aid mixer. I used a hand mixer and put it on the highest setting. Pour filling into spring form pan.

Put a cookie sheet on the lower rack in the oven and fill it with several cup of water. The cheesecake is supposed to be in a water bath, but since I used a spring form pan I didn't want to risk water leaking into the cheesecake. Thus, I opted for a steam bath. On the middle rack I put the spring form pan. I baked it for 40 minutes, but that was too long. I should have checked it at 20 minutes, and then every 5 minutes from then on. It should be done when the sides are set but center is still soft. The cheesecake did not crack, but I'm not sure if that is due to the shortness of the cheesecake or the steam.

DH loved it! I, however, could only handle it in small amounts. It is sooooo rich. It would be great with a fruit topping.