Well, my oldest daughter turned 16 this month! The years have flown by . . . one of the best parts of this blog is that it's helped me document family life and my kids growth in one place. I'm not consistent about journaling, scrapbooking or anything else like that and I'm grateful to have a space where I can look back and reflect.
For her Sweet Sixteen, she wanted a day at the beach with her friend group and it turned out to be a blast. From a picnic and pictures in sundresses to huge waves and a beach slip and slide, it was a memorable day that turned out (almost) like she had been planning.
The day before her birthday, we had a small celebration at home with friends & family and for her birthday dessert, she chose cheesecake. I hadn't made one in awhile, but this recipe is tried and true and turned out great. We had fresh figs on our tree so I made a fig sauce to go with it (and sliced strawberries for the people who aren't fig fans).
Recipe notes: It takes a LONG time so plan ahead. The link below to the original recipe has a lot of troubleshooting information (cracks, water bath, underdone cheesecake). I leave off the sour cream topping but if you want to make that, again look at the original recipe.
Happy birthday sweet girl! Your mama loves you :)
Perfect Cheesecake
recipe from Simply Recipes
Ingredients:
Crust - 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 15 graham crackers)
2 T sugar
pinch salt
5 T unsalted butter, melted
Filling - 2 lbs cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
pinch salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2/3 heavy cream
To prepare the crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pulse the graham crackers in a food processor until finely ground. Put in a large bowl, stir in the sugar and salt, and stir in the melted butter.
In a 9 inch springform pan, press down the crumbs into an even layer. I used a measuring cup to help press the crumbs down and give a little bit of an edge going up the pan.
Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven, and let the crust cool. While the crust cools, you can lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees and put your oven rack on the bottom of the oven. Then, start making your filling.
Beat the cream cheese in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 4 minutes or until soft, smooth, and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for 4 minutes more. Add the salt and vanilla, mixing until just incorporated. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs, one at a time. Scrap down the bowl paying attention to any thicker bits of cream cheese that may have stuck to the bottom of the mixer. Add the sour cream on medium speed and mix until incorporated. Change the mixer to low speecd and add the heavy cream.
Once the pan is cool, wrap it in a triple layer of foil. Boil some water in a kettle to prepare your water bath.
Scrape the filling into the crust, place the springform pan (wrapped in foil) in a large roasting pan, and carefully add water to the pan so that it goes about halfway up the side of the springform pan. Place the roasting pan in the oven.
Bake at 1 1/2 hours at 325 degrees. Then, turn off the oven and crack the oven door and let it sit there for another hour. After that, cover the top of the cheesecake with foil (don't let the foil rest on the cheesecake - make a tent), and chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours (overnight is fine).
Serve with toppings of your choice - we like whipped cream and some sort of fruit.
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