My First Cheesecake....

I am not sure why I had the idea in my head that cheesecake was so terribly tricky and difficult to make, perhaps it was from watching too many episodes of the golden girls when I was younger?......or maybe that is where I got an appreciation for the decadent dessert.....after talking to one fine lady in the library Ms. Helen gave me her recipe for cheesecake and mentioned how easy it was.....not too surprised, but she was right!

Royal Cheesecake:

CRUST
- 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 5 TBSP butter
- 2 TBSP granulated sugar

FILLING
- 3 8oz packages of cream cheese
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract

TOPPING
- 1 can cherry pie filling

Blend first three ingredients together; press firmly against bottom of spring form pan.....I was so excited to be using my spring form pan for the first time....I have had one for years, but feared making cheesecake so there is has sat in my cupboard, then packaged for the trip to California over 3 years ago, and finally after kicking some dust off of it it has been christened with royal cheesecake!

Blend filling ingredients using an electric mixer....this takes several minutes.....doing this is a great test to determine the quality of your hand mixer....mine is not so great as it took some elbow grease as well to get all the lumps out......but then again what do you expect for a mixer that was purchased some seven years ago for the whopping price of $9.99......who am I to complain....it works......although I have to admit I was secretly hoping that it would burn out and "force" me into an upgrade.....all in due time!

Pour filling into crust and bake in a preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes.....I baked mine for 40 minutes and probably could have taken it out about 5 - 7  minutes earlier.....next time I experiment!  Chill thoroughly and garnish edge with pie filling.....

I of course had to slice off a sliver.....it was delicious, rich, and totally worth every bite!  I wrapped it up and put the remaining cake in the freezer....I am thinking next time company comes over I am set! As you can see the crust was a little crumbly....I am thinking this is due to the fact that I couldn't wait until it was cooled thoroughly to slice into it!

~Enjoy!