St. Patricks Day Cheesecake
For Saint Patrick’s Day I thought I would make my favorite dessert, New York cheesecake but make it festive! Making cheesecake is easy, the tricky part can be trying to make sure it doesn’t crack (I have some tips below)! If you’re interested here’s the recipe.
Crust Ingredients:
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 sleeves of graham crackers (roughly 16 full graham crackers)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
Filling Ingredients:
- 40 oz cream cheese (must be room temperature-I used five 8 oz packages)
- 1 and 1/4 cup of sugar
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- seeds of 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 6 large eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- *9 drops green food dye*
- *3 drops yellow food dye*
*optional (used to turn mix minty green)
To make crust:
- Preheat oven 325, grease 10 inch springform pan.
2. Place 6 tbsp melted butter, crushed graham cracker pieces, sugar, and salt into mixing bowl and mix.
3. Transfer crumb mixture to base of springform pan. Press to form firm layer. (I use the bottom of a cup to press evenly and firmly)
4. Bake crust in oven for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
To make filling:
1. Place 40 oz of room temperature cream cheese into mixing bowl and mix on high.
2. Once cream cheese is smooth add 1 and 1/4th cup sugar, 1/3 cup sour cream, 2 tbsp flour, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp vanilla extract(or one vanilla bean), and 1/8th tsp salt. Mix until combined and smooth.
3. While mixing on low add in 6 eggs and 2 egg yolks. Increase speed and mix until smooth.
4. Pour cheesecake filling over prebaked crust. Let rest for 5 minutes (helps prevent bubbles). Place springform pan on baking sheet incase of any leaks.
5. Bake for 10 minutes at 450° then reduce heat to 200° and bake for an additional 1 hour and 30 minutes.
6. Once the cheesecake is done baking open the oven door and leave the cheese in the oven for an additional 1 hour (this prevents cracking).
6. Remove from the oven and allow the cheesecake to cool completely before placing in the refrigerator (once I remove from the oven I run the backside of a knife between the springform pan/cheesecake to prevent it from pulling and potentially cracking as it cools).
*don’t open the oven door while baking the cheesecake, sudden changes in temperature is the main reason cheesecakes develop cracks*
ENJOY!
