Deluxe Cheesecake

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This recipe comes from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts. I documented this cheesecake which I made for a friend's wedding. It is a creamy cheesecake and I make it with a graham cracker crust instead of the pastry crust that the original recipe calls for.

Ingredients

crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
6 tbsp melted butter
6 tbsp sugar

filling
5 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
5 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
3 tbsp flour
2 large egg yolks
grated peel of one lemon

cream cheese five eggs two egg yolks grated lemon peel flowers for decorating

Notes on ingredients
After grating the lemon peel, I like to take a good knife and chop it up some more, otherwise the strands of lemon peel cluster together and sink to the bottom of the batter. Chopped up, they tend to remain suspended and distribute more evenly in the cheesecake filling.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 475 F. Fill a baking dish halfway with water. In a 10-inch springform pan, place a sheet of parchment paper on the base. In a bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar together.

Pour the mixture into the springform pan. Flatten the crust evenly with a flat-based glass.

In a mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth and then gradually beat in the sugar. Take care to scrape the sides of the bowl.

Add eggs, milk, egg yolks, and lemon peel and mix.

Add flour and mix for 5 minutes, scraping bowl.

Pour batter into pan. Place pan in center of oven. Place pan of water on a rack below the cheesecake. Bake for 12 minutes. Set oven to 300 F and bake for 35 minutes. Turn the oven off and let the cheesecake stay in the closed oven for 30 minutes.

Remove cheesecake to a cooling rack and let it cool COMPLETELY. Cover and refrigerate the cheesecake until it is chilled (at least 4 hours). This one had some spotting on top, but I didn't care because I was going to decorate it. When the cake is cool, use a sharp knife and gently loosen the sides of the cake. Undo the sides of the pan. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on the top of the cake, flip it over, and gently pry off the base of the pan and remove the parchment. Right the cheesecake and set it on a cake circle.

Decorating

I am not a professional, but I chose gerber daisies (always choose a non-toxic flower!). I decorated the night before and I had no idea if the flowers would wilt by the time they cut the cake - over 12 hours away. So I cut the stems short, wet a tiny piece of paper towel and wrapped it around the base, then wrapped a tiny square of plastic around the base so the water wouldn't damage the cake top.

Arrange flowers in the best way to show off the flowers, accentuate the cake, and hide the flaws. I also wrapped some lovely ribbon around the base of the cake and taped it to itself. The first time I tried this, the grease soaked the ribbon and I had to toss it out. The second time, I wrapped plastic wrap around the cake then wrapped the ribbon around it - and no staining!

Finally, I arranged fresh raspberries on the top and nestled a few among the daisies to hide the stems. I then placed rolled tape (make sure you have at least two rolls of tape laid down in perpendicular roll directions) on the bottom of the cake box to ensure the cake circle doesn't slide during transportation. I then boxed that baby - one cake down, one to go!


cream cheese	five eggs	two egg yolks	grated lemon peel	flowers for decorating

	Preheat oven to 475 F. Fill a baking dish halfway with water. In a 10-inch springform pan, place a sheet of parchment paper on the base. In a bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar together.
	Pour the mixture into the springform pan. Flatten the crust evenly with a flat-based glass.
	In a mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth and then gradually beat in the sugar. Take care to scrape the sides of the bowl.
	Add eggs, milk, egg yolks, and lemon peel and mix.
	Add flour and mix for 5 minutes, scraping bowl.
	Pour batter into pan. Place pan in center of oven. Place pan of water on a rack below the cheesecake. Bake for 12 minutes. Set oven to 300 F and bake for 35 minutes. Turn the oven off and let the cheesecake stay in the closed oven for 30 minutes.
	Remove cheesecake to a cooling rack and let it cool COMPLETELY. Cover and refrigerate the cheesecake until it is chilled (at least 4 hours). This one had some spotting on top, but I didn't care because I was going to decorate it. When the cake is cool, use a sharp knife and gently loosen the sides of the cake. Undo the sides of the pan. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on the top of the cake, flip it over, and gently pry off the base of the pan and remove the parchment. Right the cheesecake and set it on a cake circle.

	I am not a professional, but I chose gerber daisies (always choose a non-toxic flower!). I decorated the night before and I had no idea if the flowers would wilt by the time they cut the cake - over 12 hours away. So I cut the stems short, wet a tiny piece of paper towel and wrapped it around the base, then wrapped a tiny square of plastic around the base so the water wouldn't damage the cake top.
	Arrange flowers in the best way to show off the flowers, accentuate the cake, and hide the flaws. I also wrapped some lovely ribbon around the base of the cake and taped it to itself. The first time I tried this, the grease soaked the ribbon and I had to toss it out. The second time, I wrapped plastic wrap around the cake then wrapped the ribbon around it - and no staining!
	Finally, I arranged fresh raspberries on the top and nestled a few among the daisies to hide the stems. I then placed rolled tape (make sure you have at least two rolls of tape laid down in perpendicular roll directions) on the bottom of the cake box to ensure the cake circle doesn't slide during transportation. I then boxed that baby - one cake down, one to go!