Grand Finale Cheesecake Recipes

Steps:

• Mix the crumbs and 3 tablespoons of sugar together. Melt the butter and stir into the crumb mixture. Press into the bottom of a greased 9-inch round, springform cake pan. Set aside. Using an electric beater, blend the cream cheese and the remaining sugar together until creamy, wiping down the sides of the bowl and the beaters with a spatula to incorporate all the cheese. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Add the vanilla and lemon juice to the cream, then slowly stir into the cheese mixture.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the prepared round cake pan into a slightly larger rectangular pan. Pour the cheese mixture into the prepared pan. Set both pans in the oven and fill the rectangular pan with water, half way up the sides of the round pan. Bake until firm and golden brown, approximately 45 to 50 minutes. Cool completely before removing from the pan.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325.
• ALMOND CRUST: In medium bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs, almonds and sugar.
• Stir in melted butter.
• Press mixture onto bottom and up side of 8\" springform pan or round pan with removable bottom.
• In small microwave-safe bowl, place chocolate.
• Microwave on high 1 minute or until chocolate is melted and smooth when stirred.
• In large mixer bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy.
• Stir together sugar, cocoa and salt; blend into cream cheese mixture.
• Add eggs and vanilla; beat until well blended.
• Add melted chocolate; beat just until blended.
• Pour into prepared ALMOND CRUST.
• Bake 35-40 minutes or until almost set.
• Remove from oven to wire rack.
• With knife, loosen cake from side of pan.
• Cool completely; remove side of pan.
• Refrigerate several hours before serving.
• Garnish with shipped cream, if desired.
• Cover; refrigerate leftover cheesecake.

Steps:

• To make the crust: Butter a 9-inch springform pan - choose one that has sides that are 2 3/4 inches high (if the sides are lower, you will have cheesecake batter left over) - and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil.
• Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. (I do this with my fingers.) Turn the ingredients into the springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Don't worry if the sides are not perfectly even or if the crumbs reach above or below the midway point on the sides. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the over. (The crust can be covered and frozen for up to 2 months.)
• Center a rack in the over, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.
• To make the cheesecake: Put a kettle of water on to boil.
• Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is soft and creamy, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat for another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs, one by one, beating for 1 full minute after each addition - you want a well-aerated batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.
• Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in a roasting pan that is large enough to hold the pan with some space around it.
• Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure that nothing has been left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape the batter into the springform pan. The batter will reach the rim of the pan. (If you have a pan with lower sides and have leftover batter, you can bake the batter in a buttered ramekin or small soufflé mold.) Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
• Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour 30 minutes, at which point the top will be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven's heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.
• After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster - be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminum foil - and remove the foil. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.
• When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, although overnight is better.
• At serving time, remove the sides of the springform pan - you can use a hairdryer to do this - and set the cake on a serving platter.

Steps:

• Prepare cake mix according to package directions and pour in sprayed 9x13 pan.
• Mix the rest of the ingredients and pour on top the cake mix in the pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 60 to 70 minutes.
• Chill before serving.