Mrs.Sullivan's Cheesecake

[Nung]

When I lived in Yonkers, NY in my youth, my sweet nextdoor neighbor Mrs. Sullivan had a recipe for a delicious cheesecake. She was German but married an Irish father of 6 so there were always wonderful smells coming from her kitchen. She always cooked wonderful things and my mom often traded dishes back and forth with her. But, her cheesecake was the best! It is simple and has a hint of lemon. (Oh, don't use any other cream cheese than Philadelphia...it will not be half the cake if you sub.)
Here ya go!

MRS. SULLIVAN’S CHEESCAKE

Crust:

1 cup flour
1 stick margarine (best, don’t sub butter) Mix and pat into springform pan
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mixture:

3 pkg (8oz) cream cheese (Use Philadelphia! Best texture and taste)
1 and 1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
rind and juice from 1 lemon

Beat C. cheese and sugar well. Separate yolks and whites, add yolks, vanilla, rind and lemon juice. Beat well. Whip egg whites until quite stiff. Fold into the main mixture.

Pour cheese mixture over crust & bake in 350 oven for 1 hour until just firm.

Mix 1 c sour cream, 1 Tbl. vanilla and 1-2 Tbl sugar
Pour over cake and return to oven for 5-10 minutes. Chill. Best next
Day.

ENJOY!

[Mystress Aynn]

Sounds good! I love cheesecake, but I always have issues with either the middle not rising and/or cracking... Any suggestions to alleviate these problems?

[Nung]

(05-07-2010 09:05 AM)Mystress Aynn Wrote:  Sounds good! I love cheesecake, but I always have issues with either the middle not rising and/or cracking... Any suggestions to alleviate these problems?

Well, I am no expert on baking or even cheesecakes in particular but I DO know THIS recipe. I never seem to have issues with incomplete baking in the middle. (That could be a recipe-related issue or possibly an issue with your oven.) As far as the cracking, that is fairly common with many recipes. My hunch is that if one overbakes a cheesecake cracking would occur more. Overbaking affects the flavor and texture as well so don't do that! Ha ha.
The good thing about this recipe is that after the cake is out of the oven and has cooled, one tops it off with the sour cream mixture which effectively hides minor cracks. In any case, if your final result TASTES good, your guests won't mind a crack or some other appearance issue. We cooks are often overly hard on ourselves...be nice to yourself. Have a slice of cake and some coffe or tea and relax!

Thanks for your reply!!