Christmas and New Year's is when I do most of my baking. My friends and family call
me to put orders in for four or five cheesecakes each. My cheesecake is also popular for
birthdays and other special occasions.
I started making cheesecake from scratch about thirteen years ago. Since then, I have
tried a number of different recipes and finally came up with one of my own taken from bits and
pieces of several recipes. The first piece of advice I have is to begin the baking process far
enough in advance so that the cheesecake will be able to sit in the refrigerator for at least twenty
four hours before you plan to serve it. Personally, I recommend making a cheesecake three to
four days in advance for the best flavor. Cheesecake ripens as it sits, so if you make it a few days
in advance, the flavor intensifies and the texture gets a little more solid. Now that you've had an
introduction on the basics, let's get started. The following steps must be followed exactly for a
cheesecake to turn out just right.
First, you should gather your materials and ingredients. A ten inch spring form pan is the
baking pan required for this recipe. You'll also need a hand mixer, a large mixing bowl and a
medium mixing bowl. A small pot or microwave safe bowl will be needed for melting butter in.
You'll also want to have a spatula handy for scraping the sides of the bowl, a rolling pin and a
gallon size zipper seal plastic bag. Make sure you also have your measuring cups and spoons
ready. The refrigerated ingredients need to be taken out to warm up to room temperature at least
thirty minutes before you start mixing them together. Take out three packages of cream cheese,
eight ounces each, and be sure to use regular cream cheese; if you use low fat or fat free, the
consistency of the cheesecake will be too soft. You'll also need eight ounces of sour cream, four
eggs and one tablespoon of