Ultimate Cheese Cake with Raspberry Topping

 

This was "why didn't we make a double batch" good.  The recipe is part of a recipe off of the foodnetwork.com site, by Tyler Florence.  I have to admit here, even though he seems uber famous on that network, that I don't know who he is but, judging from this cheese cake, he is an excellent chef. I used his recipe for the filling minus the lemon zest, I wasn't going to let the fact that I didn't have a fresh lemon on my counter keep me from cheese cake, that would be absurd. 

 

Start with two graham cracker pie crusts.  The filling is:

 

1 pound cream cheese, 2 (8-ounce) blocks, softened

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 pint sour cream

1 dash vanilla extract

 

Blend the cream cheese until smooth.  Add in the eggs, beat until smooth.  Add sugar, mix.  Add sour cream and vanilla, mix again.  Mix it well but don't over beat it. 

 

Divide mixture between the pie crusts.  Set the cheesecakes on a large piece of aluminum foil and fold up the sides around it (or put the pie pan the crust came in in a larger pie pan). Place the pie pan in a large pan (the bottom of a broiler pan worked perfectly) in a preheated 325 degree oven. Pour water into the roasting pan until the water is about halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan, make sure no water will get in your cheese cake.   Bake for 25-30 minutes. The cheesecake should still jiggle (it will firm up after chilling), so be careful not to overcook. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes. Chill in the refrigerator, loosely covered, for at least 4 hours.

 

For the topping, take a large scoop of frozen raspberries, a scoop of sugar and bring to a slow boil to make a thickish sauce.