Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Simple and Delicious!!

I baked cheesecakes yesterday and thought "Why not share the recipe?". I have been using this particular recipe for over 15 years and know it by heart. It's extremely delicious, but oh so simple to make.

Ingredients

Filling
1&1/2 pounds Cream Cheese
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
Dash of vanilla or other essence

Crust
Pre-made Graham Cracker crust
OR
1 package digestive biscuits or graham crackers.
1/4 cup butter
Pie dish

Topping
Fresh fruit - I like to use strawberries and kiwi, sliced thinly and alternated around the top.

Instructions.

To make crust:

Crush the digestive biscuits into fine crumbs. Melt butter and mix into crumbs until all crumbs are moistened. Pour crumbs into pie dish and using the back of a spoon press mixture onto base and sides of dish to form the pie crust shape. Place dish in refrigerator for a few hours. I try to do this bit ahead of time, but since I always forget, I just place the dish into the freezer while making the filling!

To make filling:

Allow cream cheese and eggs to come to room temperature. In mixer combine cream cheese, sugar and eggs. Mix until smooth and creamy, adding in a dash of vanilla essence.

Pour filling into crust and bake in a moderate oven for about 35 minutes or until filling is firm to the touch. Allow cheesecake to cool in oven to avoid getting cracks in the top.

Once cool, add fruit topping and chill for several hours or overnight in refrigerator.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Since I've been making this out of my head for so long, some of my descriptions may not be very precise.

ETA: A digestive biscuit is a type of cookie or biscuit in British parlance made with coarse wheat flour, ground wholemeal, a light amount of sugar, and a rising agent such as baking soda, along with oil, salt, and sometimes milk as well. The result is a slightly savory cookie with a crumbly texture and a simple flavor which some people find quite appealing. Graham crackers are very similar to digestives and can be substituted in the recipe.

Enjoy!
Francine

3 comments:

Colleen said...

OK, I so totally want cheescake now!! Have to keep this recipe! Thanks!

Trish said...

Man, you're making me hungry!

Anonymous said...

what are digestive biscuits?