Deluxe Cheesecake

This is as deluxe as it gets. It isn't the kind of recipe you make often, but if you love cheesecake it is well worth the effort. The picture is an adaptation that I made for Marty's Roll Over Party: ROLOver Cheesecake. I'll include the instructions at the end. This serves 16 - 20 people, so it's great for a crowd. Begin early in the day or make it the day before - there's a lot of steps.

1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup margarine or butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
Grated peel of 1 small lemon

5 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
5 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
3 tbsp. flour
2 large egg yolks
Grated peel of 1 small lemon
Fresh fruit brushed with melted jelly (optional)

First prepare pastry dough: in small bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat flour, margarine or butter, sugar, egg yolk, and grated lemon peel until well mixed. Shape dough into ball; wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Press one-third of dough onto bottom of 10" by 2 1/2" springform pan; keep remaining dough refrigerated.

Bake crust 8 minutes or until golden; cool in pan on wire rack. Turn oven control to 475°F.

While crust is cooling, prepare filling: in large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat cream cheese just until smooth; slowly beat in sugar, scraping bowl often with rubber spatula. Add eggs, milk, flour, egg yolks, and lemon peel; beat 5 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl.

Press remaining dough around side of pan to within 1 inch of top. Pour cream-cheese mixture into crust.

Bake cheesecake 12 minutes. Turn oven control to 300°F; bake 35 minutes loger. Turn off oven; let cheesecake remain in oven 30 minutes.

Remove cheesecake from oven; cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or until well chilled.

When cheesecake is firm, with spatula, loosen pan side from cheesecake and remove; loosen cake from pan bottom; slide onto serving plate.

If you like, arrange fresh fruit on top of cheesecake and brush with melted jelly.


ROLOver Cheesecake: Omit grated lemon peel in both pastry and filling. After bottom crust is cooled and dough has been pressed around side of pan, arrange 2 circles of mini rolos (buy a 203g package) on the bottom of the crust, the first circle about one inch from the side and the second circle about one inside the first circle. Put 5 or 6 rolos in the center of the crust. Carefully pour cream-cheese mixture over rolos and bake as directed. As soon as cheesecake comes out of the oven (after sitting in warm turned-off oven for 30 minutes) arrange remaining rolos on top of cheesecake. Carefully use your hand to lightly press rolos into top of cheesecake. Cool and chill as directed. After removing sides and bottom of pan, drizzle your favourite caramel sauce over top and serve.

~ Charmin