The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

I know, the directions look a bit overwhelming but once into it, it's not bad. If you are one who takes a quick glance and decides it's way more trouble than it looks, I get that. But if you love cheesecake (and I don't) than you will be in for a treat. That's right. I don't like cream cheese, sour cream or yogurt. Joe does and he really likes lemon flavored desserts, and I can honestly say I've never made a cheesecake from scratch so that is why I made it.

In my notes, I'll tell you what I did differently.

INGREDIENTS:

1 ¼ c. graham cracker crumbs 1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp brown sugar packed ½ c. sour cream

1 Tbsp butter, melted 4 large egg whites

4 ea (8 oz ) packages cream cheese, softened 1/3 c. white sugar

1 c. white sugar 3 c. fresh or frozen blueberries,

4 large egg yolks 1/3 c. white sugar

1 Tbsp finely grated lemon zest 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

¼ c. fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 9 inch springform pan. Cut an 18 inch square of aluminum foil, and wrap around the outside bottom of the pan

To make the crust, mix the graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar together in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter until thoroughly blended. Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Remove pan from oven and cool on a rack.

To make filling, place the cream cheese in a mixing bowl, beat until creamy, about 2 minutes. Continue beating while gradually adding 1 cup sugar. Beat until sugar is thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg yolks, one at ta time, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition .Mix in the lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla, and sour cream until well blended.

Beat the egg whites in a clean bowl until soft peaks form. Continue beating while gradually adding 1/3 c. sugar in a slow stream, until stiff peaks form. Do not overbeat. Gently fold ¼ of the meringue into the cream cheese mixture. Repeat twice more with remaining meringue, mixing carefully to not deflate the egg whites, until no meringue streaks remain. Pour the filling into the prepared pan, and place in a large baking pan. Pour hot, (not boiling) water into the baking pan up to 1 inch on the sides of the sprinform pan.

Bake in preheated oven until the top is almost set 5-55 minutes. Turn off the heat, prop the oven door open about 2 inches, and allow cake to rest in the oven until completely set, about 1 hour longer. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.

To make the topping, place 1 cup blueberries and sugar in a saucepan, cook over medium heat until berries being to break, 6-8 minutes. While still hot, strain the berried through a sieve or cheesecloth placed over a bow, reserving the juice. Discard berry pulp. Allow the juice to cool.

Mix remaining 2 cups blueberries and lemon juice together in a large bowl. Stir in the strained blueberry juice. Just before serving, pour the blueberry topping over the cheesecake.

MY NOTES:

I don't have a springform pan. I bought a prepared graham cracker crust and baked it. Even though it was a large crust, all of the cheesecake didn't fit, so I had to put the extra in a small Pyrex bowl, which was fine, because that became Joe's taster

Also, I recommend using one of those large mixers. My hand held one got a little warm trying to mix the cream cheese.

I put water in a baking sheet, but only enough to cover the sheet. It was all "poofy" when it was time to open the oven door, then it settled back down. If I was on the English baking show, I'm sure I wouldn't have passed! But it was still very good

Also, instead of going through all the fuss with the blueberries, I had a ½ jar of syrup I had picked up at Moose Creek Cafe that was a blend of cranberries, raspberries and pears. I heated that up, added my fresh but frozen blueberries, a little cornstarch, and used that for my topping. WINNER!

ENJOY!