Recipe - Cheesecake - Valerie Pentzer

500 g Graham cracker crumbs
100 g Melted butter
20 g White sugar
2 One half ml Ground cinnamon
700 g Cream cheese
150 g Sugar
3 Eggs
60 ml Lemon juice
10 ml Grated lemon rind
10 ml Vanilla
500 ml Sour cream
30 g Sugar
5 ml Vanilla
100 g Sugar
25 ml Cornstarch
1 ml Salt
170 ml Water
75 ml Lemon juice
1 Egg yolk WELL BEATEN.
15 g Butter

1. Preheat oven to 175 øC . Combine crust ingredients. Press crust on
bottom and sides of buttered 25 cm springform pan. Bake 5 minutes, and
cool.

2. Beat cheese until soft. Add sugar and blend well. Add eggs, one at a
time, beating well after each. Mix in the lemon rind and the vanilla, and
add to the mixture. Pour into the prebaked crust, and bake 35 minutes.

3. Combine topping ingredients, spread on top of cheesecake, and return to
oven immediately. Bake 1012 minutes and remove from oven.

4. Combine dry glaze ingredients; add liquid glaze ingredients. Cook over
low heat until thick. Add 15 g of butter. Cool, and spread this glaze on
the cake before the glaze thickens too much.

Author's Notes: This is from a dessertchef friend of a regularchef
friend, and apparently won some award. I've had cheesecakes that I think
are more impressive (including one I can make), but I think I'm something
of a cheesecake connoisseur. If I want to blow people's socks off, this is
the one I cook. I think that every time I've served it to a new group, at
least one person has said ``That was the best cheesecake I've ever had.''

Some pointers: this is the traditional crust, but I often use a more
flourybakedpiecrustlike one. It's not too critical. The magic to
getting the texture perfect is in howyou beat the cheese. I use a kitchen
aid, work slowly, scrape the bowl often, and ALWAYS USE ROOM TEMPERATURE
EVERYTHING. Using cold cream cheese guarantees lumps. Don't beat too hard
before putting in the sugar, but make sure it's even and fluffy before the
eggs go in. Then again, don't overbeat. It takes practice. I've been known
to make it with no sugar or vanilla in the topping, and I think it's more
interesting. but the contrast between the layers may confuse those
accustomed to restaurant cheesecakes. The glaze is easy as glazes go, but
treat it properly. In particular, stir constantly until it's thick, but
don't stir hard or you'll break down the starch.

Difficulty : rather difficult (timing is critical.) Precision
: measure carefully.

Recipe By : Rob Pike, research!rob AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill,

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini