These days, with everything going on in the world I’ve been cooking and baking much more than I normally do. Cookies, a big pasta dish, focaccia… To the point I’ve decided I’m going to start a curbside pickup service for my neighbors. Recipe below.
Crust:
cooking spray or butter (for the pan)
1 cup of graham crackers
1/2 cup animal crackers
6 tablespoon butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon of honey
1 pinch of salt (1/4 teaspoon)
Filling:
4 (8 oz) blocks of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon date syrup (optional but I added to mine and it was poppin’)
1/4 c. Greek Yogurt
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 cup of lemon curd (optional)
Method:
Preheat oven to 325°F/176°C and grease an or 9″ springform pan with cooking spray. If you don’t have this, use a small circle pan and line it with parchment paper (it’ll pop right out)
Make crust:
In a food processor, mix together graham crackers and the animal crackers. You can also use a blender. Mix in the melted butter, sugar, honey, and salt until totally combined. (The mixture should resemble wet sand.) Press into bottom and up sides of prepared pan. Use a measuring up to flatten the crust onto the pan. Pop it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and the sugar until smooth. Add date syrup and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time. With a spatula, stir in sour cream. Stir in flour and salt until just combined.
Get the crust out of the freezer and pour mixture over crust.
Wrap the bottom of the pan in aluminum foil and place in a large roasting pan. If you’re using a springform, make sure it’s tightly wrapped so water doesn’t pour in and mess up the crust. Pour in enough boiling water to come up halfway in the baking pan. Bake until the cheesecake jiggles slightly, 1 hour – 30 minutes.
Once you see a thin layer on top of the cheesecake. Turn off heat, prop open oven door, and let cheesecake cool in the oven, for 1 hour. It should look like this:
Remove foil and refrigerate cheesecake until completely chilled, I left it overnight but 5-6 hours is tops. Once completely cooled spread the lemon curd on top and enjoy!
