Delicious Almond Cheesecake
My love of baking cheesecakes began with this recipe for delicious almond cheesecake. I found this recipe in a magazine back in the early 90's. My family loved it and I am quite certain it was the best cheesecake I had ever had.
For the recipe click here ► Almond Cheesecake
Since then I have scoured cookbooks, magazines, and the internet for others and I believe I have some good contenders now. This is definitely still one of my favorites.
The crust is a delicious blend of vanilla wafers, sugar, almonds, and butter. I never use margarine, especially for baking.
The filling is the most creamy blend of cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract. I only use real extracts. They are worth the added expense. Imitation vanilla leaves an after taste in your mouth, which is not pleasant. I'm not sure you could add too much of the real vanilla extract! There really is a difference.
The topping is sour cream, with a little vanilla added. Eaten alone, unless you love sour cream like I do, the topping is not that desirable. The three layers together are a party in your mouth!
You have to taste all three layers in each bite! You have the crunch of the wafers and nuts in the crust, along with the buttery richness. Then the incredibly creamy almond flavored cheesecake layer is the perfect complement to the crust. The rich, tangy sour cream adds that counterbalance to the sweet cheese layer and the three layers combined are beyond delicious! It's a party in your mouth!
This is one of my most requested desserts and the Easter dessert for this year in our humble home. It makes those cheesecakes from the boxes in the freezer section of the grocery store, pale in comparison.
Delicious Almond Cheesecake
Crust: 1 1/4 cups crushed vanilla wafers
3/4 cup finely chopped almonds
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
Filling: 4 - 8 oz. pkgs. cream cheese at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Topping: 1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
In a bowl, combine wafers, almonds and sugar, add the butter and mix well. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 10 inch springform pan. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add extracts and beat until blended.
Pour into prepared crust. Bake at 350° for 55 minutes or until center is almost set. ( Don't over bake!) Cool on a wire rack and chill overnight.
Stir vanilla extract into sour cream and top cheesecake with mixture while still in the springform pan.
Top with lightly toasted sliced almonds. Serves 14 to 16.
***Although it is not absolutely necessary, I usually use a bain marie.
A bain marie (ban mah-REE) is a fancy term for a hot water bath. It is used for cooking custards and terrines to create a gentle and uniform heat around the food.
First, I set the pan with cheesecake batter on a sheet of heavy duty Reynold's wrap and bring the ends up and around the sides of the pan, then add a second layer of wrap. This will keep the water from seeping into the springform pan.
I usually use a roasting pan to set the prepared cheesecake into and slide into the oven. Then pour hot water into and about half way up the sides of the tin foil wrapped springform pan. Bake as usual.
This prevents cracking, I believe, and I do want a pretty delicious almond cheesecake!
The picture below is what your cheesecake should look like after it has cooled for about an hour.
