Aunt Clara’s Cheesecake
Aunt Clara made this cheesecake which blew my mind - it had a layer of sour cream atop what was already a decadent and sinfully rich cake and a salty sweet crust. She made hers in a rectangular pan but I use a springform pan and I make what’s sometimes called “new York” style, which is tall and rich. Otherwise, this is pretty true to Aunt Clara’s masterpiece.
Ingredients
For the crust:
12 graham crackers
1 stick butter, melted
pinch salt
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
For the cheesecake:
2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
Pinch salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2/3 cup heavy cream
For the topping:
2 cups sour cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Make the crust:
Pulse the Graham crackers in a food processor until finely ground. Mix in a bowl with the melted butter, sugar and salt. Press the mixture around the bottom of a springform pan- it’s okay to go up the sides a bit (this pan is recommended, but not required).
Bake the crust for 10 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Once cool, wrap the bottom and the sides of the pan with tin foil so water doesn’t seep in as you will be baking the cake in a water bath.
Make the cake:
It’s absolutely critical that the cream cheese be soft or else you will have chunks that will never smooth out, even during baking. It’s also important not to beat with whisk beaters as it will allow too much air into the cheesecake which will then settle and crack. Using a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar, and one egg at a time. Then add the sour cream and milk and beat until smooth and thoroughly combined. Make sure to scrape down the sides and bottom as you go.
As I mentioned, you’ll be baking this in a water bath so you don’t have cracks and the cheesecake stays moist. Choose a high sided roasting pan that’s larger than your cake pan. Add the filling to the cake pan and place in the roasting pan. Carefully place the pan in the oven on the middle rack. Turn the heat down to 325F and pour water into the pan until it comes halfway up the sides of the cake pan.
Bake for one hour or until the center is no longer jiggly. This make take up to another 30 minutes if your oven is slow like mine. The key is to make sure that center is not moving when you shake the pan.
Turn the oven off and crack the door open a few inches so the cake can gradually cool. This is just to prevent cracking. If you don’t care about cracking, you can take the cake out and let it cool on a rack. be careful of the hot water!
Wrap the cake while still in the pan and put in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight so it completely cools.
Make the topping:
Mix all of the ingredients together until smooth. Once the cake has completely cooled, spread the sour cream mix on top and serve or put back in the fridge and cover again.
Note: This cake freezes beautifully!
