$55 Cheesecake

Every year at Christmas my local church does a fundraiser to raise money for missions projects. The church members and community make baked goods to be auctioned off for the charity. It’s one of our most popular annual events. For the past few years I have made my cheesecake. One year it raised $55, hence why I call it $55 cheesecake.

Cheesecake has always been one of my favorite desserts, but it wasn’t something that I got on a regular basis. My family never had cheesecake at holidays or events and really the only time I was able to get the dessert was when we went to somewhere like The Cheesecake Factory on special occasions since the closest one was out of town. I decided one day that I wanted to make one homemade so I scoured over cookbooks and online for the perfect recipe. I found and made many versions, but there were never quite right. They were either too dense or not creamy enough for my liking so I decided to experiment and create my own.

One of the things that I do with my cheesecake recipe is I separate the eggs and whip the whites as if I were making a meringue. After the batter is finished, I gently fold the egg whites into the batter. I feel like this makes the cheesecake more light and fluffy (technical term) and not so dense.

Recently, I added another ingredient to my recipe: coffee. It might sound like a weird thing to add to a version of cheesecake, but I found that adding just a bit of brewed coffee really brings out the flavor of the cheesecake. You can’t really tell the coffee is there, but it really accentuates the other ingredients.  A friend of mine owns Lake Gaston Coffee Company and roasts his own coffee. It is by far some of the best coffee I’ve ever had! I not only love to drink it, but cook with it as well. Starbucks, eat your heart out!

You can order his coffee online and he’ll ship it to you.                                         http://www.lakegastoncoffee.com

I’ve also found that cooking the cake at a low temperature for a long period of time will result in a rich creamy cheesecake and will also help it not to crack. Another thing that can keep the cake from cracking is to gradually cool it off after it’s finished baking. I do this by turning off the oven after the cooking is done and leaving the cheesecake in the oven for about an hour then let the cake sit at room temperature for another hour and finally placing it in the refrigerator.

This is my basic version of a cheesecake and can be altered in many ways. I like to add marshmallow cream to the batter and chocolate candy to the crust for a s’mores version. I also like add an extra layer of flavor and richness by topping the cheesecake with a caramel sauce. Any type of fruit can be added as well.

This cheesecake takes some time to make and cook, but the result is definitely worth it!

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$55 Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted

Filling

• 4 eggs separated
• ¼ cup plus 1 ¼ cups sugar
• 1/3 70g cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup brewed coffee room temperature
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour sifted
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 24 oz cream cheese 3 blocks, room temperature

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 inch springform pan.
2. Add the graham cracker crumbs and the 2 tablespoons of sugar to the springform pan. Stir to mix the sugar with crumbs. Pour the melted butter over the crumb mixture and stir to combine. Press the crumb mixture evenly to the bottom of the pan and the sides. Set in the refrigerator to chill.
   
3. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites and ¼ cup sugar until they form stiff peaks, approximately 3-4 minutes, and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks until thickened, approximately 1 minute. Add the sour cream, vanilla extract, coffee, and lemon juice and beat until well incorporated. Next, beat the 1 ¼ cups sugar, flour, and salt until combined and no lumps. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined and smooth. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the whipped egg whites until combined. Pour the batter over the crumb mixture in the springform pan. With the rubber spatula, spread the top of the batter to even it out and then take the pan and lightly bang it on the counter to remove any air bubbles.
   
4. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes then turn the oven down to 200F and bake for 2 hours. After 2 hours, turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake inside for another hour. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and run a small sharp knife along the edge of the pan to separate the crust from the pan. Leave the cake at room temperature for about an hour then place in the refrigerator overnight.