Mmmm, Cheesecake!

Many moons ago I had the best cheesecake at an Italian restaurant in the North End in Boston. I don't remember which restaurant it was, but I do remember that the cheesecake slice I got was ginormous, it was extremely creamy, the crust to die for, and the sour cream topping was incredible.

I've been looking for a recipe to replicate it, and I was shocked when I found this recipe by Andrew Zimmern (actually, it's his mom's recipe) but you can understand how shocked I was to find it in his blog. This from the man that eats bull testicles and insects for lunch! Anyway, I used a 10" springform pan (lined the outside with foil) for this and baked it in a water bath for the first 40 minutes, but I'm sure if you follow his recipe below it will be just as good. I'm bringing my dad a big piece because he absolutely LOVES cheesecake and we'll see what the thinks!

INGREDIENTS

Crust:

• 4 oz butter (one stick)
• 2 c graham cracker crumbs (about 8 graham crackers)
• 1 c brown sugar
• 1 t cinnamon

Filling:

• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1⁄2 c sugar (I put in closer to 3/4 cup sugar)
• 24 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 t lemon juice

Topping:

• 1 pint sour cream
• 4 T sugar.
• 1⁄2 t vanilla

DIRECTIONS

For the Crust: Melt butter, mix with other ingredient. Press into pie plate, forming bottom and sides. Since I used a springform pan, I only pressed to form a bottom; using the bottom of a measuring cup works in evening out the crust.

For the Filling: Beat eggs and sugar and mix until well combined. Add cream cheese, vanilla and lemon juice (I also added a 1/2 tsp of lemon zest). Pour into crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cool 1/2 hour. (I baked my cheesecake in a water bath for 40 minutes).

For the Topping: Mix all ingredients. Spread on top. Bake at 475 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Chill at least overnight to 24 hours.