cheesecake. new york style.

This evening I broke my cheesecake baking virginity - I finally braved making a cheesecake from scratch. I must say, it was easier than expected. I can't wait to cut into this mountain of cheese tomorrow for M's birthday. For the past three years I've said that I would make him one but never had the guts to try. We always had the discussion of how he loves the crust part the best - if he had his way there would be less than an inch of cheesecake and more than three inches of crust, true story! I switched up the New York Cheesecake recipe I found on allrecipes.com and made the crust a bit fuller than stated (I used 25 graham crackers vs. 15). All I can say is thank goodness for my mini chopper/food processor. You can't fit much in it, maybe about 5 full graham crackers tops (broken up), or some veggies for a quick salsa - but it got the job done. It was much easier than trying to break a ton of graham crackers in bags with a rolling pin or flat bottom pan - or hauling out my normal sized food processor. With the lack of storage in our kitchen I keep it up high in the pantry and it tends to be a hassle to pull it out, clean it and put it away. The little mini chopper is a dream. Best part - I could just flip it over into my bowl of crumbs instead of taking it off the stand etc. like I would have to do with my traditional processor.  I did noticed I had to use a bit of extra butter for the crust - the recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of melted butter per 15 crackers - I added an extra tablespoon, I wasn't trying to have it all crumble on me.

I can't wait to cut into this beast it baked up HUGE! I'm excited, I thought for sure it might cave in or droop or something, but it seems like it's going to be similar to the thick, huge slices you get at your favorite place to dine. I went ahead and bought some caramel topping to drizzle over the slices tomorrow. He doesn't like fruit, I love it, but it's his birthday. I hope that his family will enjoy the cake.

The down fall to all this - if the cheesecake is delicious - I'm in trouble. Now I know how to make cheesecake... I've sworn off learning this because it's my weakness - I hate to see how much I'm going to want to make this on a regular basis! (This is exactly why I haven't learned to make fried foods well - I will want to eat them all the time).

So fingers crossed that it tastes as good as it looks. All I can say is Happy Birthday M, I love you! ox

Seriously.. I could dive in there right now and eat my way out!