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Cheesecake, The Heavy One
by Brenda Frank, Tom Blackburn's wife

This is New York deli style cheesecake. It is Mike's favorite cake and the only cheesecake recognized as such by our family. The process is lengthy, but easy. Strawberry topping, in season, is unbeatable. Cherries are also good. This recipe is from The Joy of Cheesecake, by Bovbjerg and Iggers.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees

2 ½ lbs. cream cheese, softened
½ tsp. grated orange rind
½ tsp. grated lemon rind
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 egg yolks
3 Tbsp. flour
5 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
10 inch springform pan
graham cracker crust (See recipe below)

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese until it is light and fluffy. (The cream cheese can be softened to room temperature in the microwave.) Mix in the sugar and flour, and continue beating until smooth. Add the grated rinds, then the yolks and whole eggs, one at a time, beating after each until the mixture is thoroughly blended. Stir in the heavy cream and mix only briefly.

Pour the mixture into the prepared, cooled crust and bake for 15 minutes at 475 deg. in center of oven. Then reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees and continue to bake for another hour. It is good to put a small pan of water in the oven next to or below the cheesecake to increase the humidity so it will not crack.

When the cake is done, turn off the oven and allow the cake to cool slowly for an additional hour. As it cools, run a sharp knife around the upper edges of the pan to separate the cake so it will not crack as it cools. Remove the cake from the oven and cool to room temperature. Chill thoroughly before serving. Apply fruit topping, cherry or strawberry (recipes follow).

These can also be made as mini-cheesecakes, in cupcake papers, with canned fruit topping. For regular cupcake size, cook at 350 degrees for 21 minutes. For mini-cupcake size, cook at 350 degrees for 19 minutes.

 

Graham Cracker Crust
by Brenda Frank, Tom Blackburn's wife

Preheat oven at 350 degrees

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (1 pack less ½ graham cracker)
6 Tbsp. butter, melted

Blend the butter and crumbs in a bowl. Press the crumb mixture onto the bottom and partly up the sides of a buttered springform pan using the back of a large metal spoon. Smooth the crumb mixture along the bottom to an even thickness. Bake for 8 minutes in a 350-degrees oven. Cool before filling.

Cherry Topping
by Brenda Frank, Tom Blackburn's wife

3 cans dark, pitted, sweet cherries in heavy syrup
2 Tbs. + 2 tsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. almond extract

Drain cherries. Mix cornstarch with cherry juice in saucepan. Heat until thickened. Add extract and cherries.

Strawberry Topping
by Brenda Frank, Tom Blackburn's wife

beautiful, symmetrical strawberries, enough to cover cake
8 oz. red current jelly
4 Tbs. sugar

Mix the sugar with the jelly in a saucepan over moderately high heat for 2 to 3 minutes until 225 to 228 degrees on a candy thermometer. Do not boil beyond this point or the glaze will become brittle when it cools. Cut the tops off the strawberries. Arrange them on the cake and spoon on the glaze. Chill.

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