Cheesecake Masterpiece

I have to explain the title of this post -  Cheese Cake Masterpiece.
The only reason I say this is because this is literally the best cheese cake I have ever made.
And if you follow the directions to a "T" you will have the same luck
and emerge from the kitchen
 looking like a

{I PROMISE}


Before we move forward let me give you a little background on myself.

You probably don't know this about me
but
I have a major thing for Cheesecake. 
shhh
Pinky promise you won't tell anyone??? 
It's kinda embarrassing how much I love it. :) 

For example...
You know how you remember your first kiss?
Well it's really funny because that is how remarkable my first taste of cheesecake was.
I'll never forget it.

We were visiting family in Miami
and when I heard the mention of cake after dinner I got super excited!
However, when they handed me my plate adorned with this tiny delicate sliver of chocolate cheesecake
{being the kid I was}
I thought to myself,
Is This All I Get???

After I tasted it I thought again
Is This All I Get???

The taste was so amazing that I couldn't control my manners and I quickly walked over to the table and asked most politely


May I please have another piece?

 and
I was very politely told
NO
by my
Daddy.



OH FUDGE!

So I left there that day only having one sliver of yumminess.
But the love affair was on and in full swing.

Now fast forward about 30 years - give or take a few.
I've been told  
No More Gluten for You!


Yeah Yeah I know what you're thinking...
Cheesecake is just cheese and sugar and egg and vanilla and
all those things are gluten free anyway.

So what's the big hoopla about here??

Well as you can see
 this light creamy heavenly sweet delight is at the center of my heart when
it comes to desserts so when I was told
No More Gluten
I thought it was all over for me.
{Of course I was very new to the gluten free diet then and had no idea what all I really could have}

And...

The Graham Cracker crust would normally make this oh-so-delicious treat a no-no
for someone like myself with Celiac Disease or Gluten Intolerance

however I have a little secret hidden up my sleeve...

I have discovered

Gluten Free Graham Crackers! 
ah-ha

Don't tell me I can't have a slice of cheese cake!

Nope - Don't you dare say it.

and I want you to know that

This baby is 100% Gluten Free Heaven in your
MOUTH!

Go ahead - get as close to the monitor as you can.

If you could just taste the creamy loveliness your knees would buckle.

Trust me!

Your knees would
BUCKLE!!

Hey
 - H O N E S T L Y -
I actually had fully glutenized folks
b-e-g-g-i-n-g
for take home containers of this little doll of a cake!

Simply Put

it was

2 DIE 4.

And the other big deal is
I wanted a cheesecake that had a GF graham cracker crust that tasted amazing
and that's exactly what I got with this recipe!

{The End}

Well, not really the end

You want the recipe, right???

Then let's get to sharing why don't we....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ingredients

For the crust

• 1 1/2 cups Kinnikinnick Gluten Free graham cracker crumbs (I placed mine in a ziploc baggie and let the rolling pin to do the work)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

• 2 1/2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 5 whole extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the topping:

• Large chocolate dipped strawberries 
• Cool Whip

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the crust, combine the graham crackers, sugar, and melted butter until moistened. Pour into a 9-inch springform pan. With your hands, press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan and about 1-inch up the sides. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees F.

To make the filling, cream the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce the speed of the mixer to medium and add the eggs and egg yolks, 2 at a time, mixing well. Scrape down the bowl and beater, as necessary. With the mixer on low, add the sour cream, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly and pour into the cooled crust.

Bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven temperature down to 225 degrees and bake for another 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn the oven off and open the door wide. The cake will not be completely set in the center. Allow the cake to sit in the oven with the door open for 30 minutes. Take the cake out of the oven and allow it to sit at room temperature for another 2 to 3 hours, until completely cooled. Wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Remove the cake from the springform pan by carefully running a hot knife around the outside of the cake. Leave the cake on the bottom of the springform pan for serving.

Place strawberries on top and you can pipe dollops of cool whip between each one to fill in empty space and add some extra pretty to the top of the cake!

Cut with a warm knife wiping after each cut keep from tearing your cake slices apart.

Serve and Enjoy

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As always I must give credit where credit is due.

This recipe is the master full work of Ina Garten and it's the best cheese cake I have EVER made. 

If you would like to see the wonderful reviews of this cake visit this link!

Thank you Ina! You are the best!!

And I also must thank my little Sissy for sharing this recipe with me.
She told me it was so totally worth the effort and pressed me to give it a try.
So glad I listened.
Thank you Mindy!!

Take care and I hope to hear some wonderful responses on your baking experience with this lovely little number.