Homemade, Mostly Organic, Somewhat Local, Vanilla Bean, Strawberry Cheesecake

Wow, that’s a mouthful!

Recently, I entered a photo competition sponsored by MarxFoods, where contestants were asked to create “The Most Stunning Vanilla Photo.” I had contemplated several uses for whole vanilla beans that included: vanilla sugar, vanilla bean hot chocolate, vanilla bean cheesecake, and a mustache. I ultimately settled on a mustache and a cheesecake.

Below is the recipe (adapted from Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Cheesecake) for what I have termed my “Homemade-Mostly Organic-Somewhat Local-Vanilla Bean-Strawberry-Cheesecake” and photos. The source of the ingredients (use whatever you have/can get), while not critical to this recipe, lets you have a catchy title such as mine.

Hardware:

• Mixing Bowls
• Electric mixer of sorts
• 9 inch spring form pan
• roasting pan; large enough to comfortably fit spring form pan inside of
• sauce pan for topping

Crust:

Graham Cracker Crust

• 2 cups finely crushed graham crackers
• 1 stick of butter (organic)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (organic)

Put whole graham crackers into food processor and “chop” & “grind” into fine bits. Combine graham crackers with melted butterand cinnamon in a large bowl. Mix together thoroughly with a fork. Line the bottom and sides (about 1/2 inch up) of a 9 inch spring form pan with graham cracker crust mix. Using the bottom of a measuring cup makes this remarkably easy. Place in refrigerator while making the filling.

Filling:

• 1 lb cream cheese (use the full fat stuff)
• 1 lb sour cream
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 dash of vanilla extract
• contents of 2 vanilla beans
• 3/4 large lemon; zested

In a large bowl, mix cream cheese until smooth (removing lumps). Next, add eggs to cream cheese, one at a time, until fully combined. Continue mixing and slowly add sugar. Add sour cream and continue mixing. Add vanilla extract, vanilla bean insides, and lemon zest. Mix until combined and smooth, try not to over mix as this may cause air bubbles in your final product.

*I don’t own a fancy Kitchen Aid mixer, or anything comparable, so I do my mixing with a cordless drill and wooden spoon.

Good for building decks and making cheesecake

Preheat oven to 325. Remove crust from refrigerator and slowly add filling. If top is not smooth, you can use a spatula. Wrap bottom and sides of spring form pan with aluminum foil, trying to make a watertight cover. Place spring form into roasting pan and pour boiling water into roasting pan, until water comes about 1/2 way up the spring form. The water will never reach a temperature above boiling (it will just evaporate off), and this allows for more uniform baking. Bake in oven, on a middle rack, for 45 minutes and do not open the door! After 45 minutes, turn oven off and slightly crack the door – allowing cheesecake to cool for about 1 hour. If you examine the cheesecake at this point, it will not appear done, but it will continue cooking and assuredly is done. You want to make sure the cheesecake is sufficiently cooled, and does so slowly and evenly before placing it in refrigerator to prevent cracking. I’ve never had a problem with cracks in my cake, but some people seem to. After cheesecake has cooled, refrigerate for no less than 6 hours to allow contents to set. After which, you can make the topping and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Salt or otherwise, water intrusion is bad for both Mangroves and cheesecakes

Topping:

• 1 pint fresh strawberries (sliced horizontal) *you can use whatever fresh fruit tickles your fancy here
• 2 table spoons sugar
• 1/4 large lemon; zested

Over medium heat, in a sauce pan, combine ingredients and cook for about 5 minutes. Allow topping to completely cool and pour over cheesecake.

This recipe yields a much smoother cheesecake than you may have had in the past. When I get cheesecake at a restaurant, it is usually thick and required liquids in between bites. Using sour cream makes this cheesecake more creamy and soft.

Slice.

This is not the greatest cheesecake in the world, no this is just a tribute.

Plate.

Deeelicious!

Enjoy!

Trying to enjoy my cheesecake, incognito

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Tags: Cooking

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 at 4:01 am and is filed under Cooking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.