Best. Dessert. Ever.

Classic Cheesecake

source: Lisa Hawks

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 ½ cups crushed graham cracker
• 6 T. powdered sugar
• 6 T. butter, melted

Filling

• 3 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup butter, softened
• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
• 3 tsp. vanilla
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 4 eggs
• Whipped cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
2. In bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Stir in butter. Press in bottom of greased 9-inch springform pan.
3. Beat cheese and butter till fluffy. Add milk and vanilla; mix well. Add powdered sugar; mix well. Beat in the eggs just until combined.
4. Spoon onto crust.
5. Encase bottom and sides of the pan with foil (to keep water from leaking into pan). Place pan into a large baking dish and place it in oven.
6. Pour boiling water into the large baking dish until it comes about 1-inch up the side of the pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until center is almost set.
7. Remove from oven. Remove pan from baking dish and allow to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Cool completely.
8. Refrigerate overnight. Garnish with whipped cream and fruit sauce.

*If the center still looks quite runny, even after 55 minutes of cooking, turn off the oven and allow the cake to sit in the oven as it cools off. It will thicken up as it sits in the cooling oven.

**Russ made a strawberry sauce by macerating the strawberries overnight and then blending them up the next day.

This recipe is actually taken from my mom's all time favorite cheesecake recipe, it's a brownie cheesecake. I will put the recipe below because it is seriously delicious. Here you go:

Brownie Cheesecake

Ingredients
Crust

• 1 ½ cups crushed vanilla wafer (about 45 cookies)
• 6 T. powdered sugar
• 6 T. baking cocoa
• 6 T. butter, melted

Filling

• 3 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup butter, softened
• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
• 3 tsp. vanilla
• ½ cup baking cocoa or powdered sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 ½ cups crumbled brownie
• Whipped cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
2. In bowl, combine wafer crumbs, sugar and cocoa. Stir in butter. Press in bottom of greased 9-inch springform pan.
3. Beat cheese and butter till fluffy. Add milk and vanilla; mix well. Add cocoa; mix well. Beat in the eggs just until combined.
4. Fold in brownies. Spoon onto crust.
5. Encase bottom and sides of the pan with foil (to keep water from leaking into pan). Place pan into a large baking dish and place it in oven.
6. Pour boiling water into the large baking dish until it comes about 1-inch up the side of the pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until center is almost set. Remove from oven.
7. Remove pan from baking dish and allow to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Cool completely.
8. Refrigerate overnight. Garnish with whipped cream and pecans.

*If the center still looks quite runny, even after 55 minutes of cooking, turn off the oven and allow the cake to sit in the oven as it cools off. It will thicken up as it sits in the cooling oven.