House of Brinson Cheesecake from houseofbrinson on Vimeo.

Cheesecake is one of those things in life that need to be enjoyed and savored. What’s better than a rich, dense cake with a creamy filling and crunchy crust? Nothing in my book. This is exactly why when we go home to my mom’s house for the holidays, I look forward to our family friend Laura and her wonderful gift of a cheesecake. Each year a perfect cheesecake waits in my moms fridge for us. We have arrived in the wee hours of the morning after driving from NYC and had no shame in wanting a piece.

So of course when I had to attend an all cheese party, I wanted to bring this. I thought making cheesecake would be hard, but Laura’s recipe makes it so easy.

Cheesecake Recipe

Crust Ingredients

• 2 pkgs. gram crackers crushed into crumbs, or crushed in food processor
• 1/2 stick melted butter (4 tablespoons)

Filling Ingredients

• 5 packages cream cheese, soften to room temperature
• 1  3/4 cup sugar
• 5 eggs
• 2 eggs whites
• 3 tablespoon flour
• 1 tablespoon lemon
• 1/4 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
2. To make the crust: Mix together crushed graham crackers and butter. Pat on bottom of springform pan and about 1/2 up sides of pan. You can use vanilla wafer as well.
3. Blend cheese and sugar together.  Beat eggs one at a time alternating with egg whites. Add cream, flour, lemon, vanilla. Mix well until the mixture is smooth.
4. Pour batter into prepared 12 inch spring form pan.  Bake at 500 degrees* for 10 minutes lower oven to 250 degrees.  Bake 1 hour or test with butter knife.  You don’t want the cake to crack. Cool and refrigerate until set. Add topping.

*We have a convection oven and it cook faster. I cooked at 425 degrees for 8 minutes and then 200 degrees for 50 minutes. I watched it VERY carefully and it still cracked around the edges but tasted good all the same. Laura said it might feel a little undercooked when you pull it out, but it will firm up.

We hope you enjoy our first video!