Cheesecake

This is my husband's and my birthday cake. This cheesecake is delicious, though rich enough that a small slice will do, and doesn't call for any sour cream. It's based on Delia Smith's from her "Complete Cookery Course" (see References). She's a well known chef in the UK. Since my mother-in-law's cooking is so wonderful and she uses it, I picked up a copy for myself.

I made this recipe with brown sugar this time. It has more of a caramel taste. When it's made with white sugar, it has the familiar, classic cheesecake taste.

Crust:
6 oz shortbread cookies, ginger snaps, or tea biscuits (check ingredients)
6 T butter

Filling:
1 1/2 lb cream cheese (3 packages), softened (knead if straight out of fridge)
3 eggs
1/2 c + 2T white or brown sugar
1 t vanilla
Optional: fruit (strawberries, blueberries, or kiwi peeled and sliced)

Bake at 300 degrees for 30 min. Chill at least 2 hr.
1. Preheat oven. Melt butter and crush cookies. Stir cookie crumbs into butter. Spread and press into bottom and sides of pie pan or cheese cake pan to form the crust.
2. In electric mixer, mix cream cheese, eggs, sugar, and vanilla until creamy smooth.
3. Pour filling into the crust. Bake (see "bake" above). Next, turn oven off and let pie cool inside the oven. Then chill at least 2 hr in fridge to make firm. Optional: top with fruit.

If you use a cheese cake tin, Delia says you soak a clean dish towel in hot water, wrap it around the sides of the tin and hold for a few seconds, then lift the base out.