"Infamous" Cheesecake

Classic_Pandora: I've talked about making this, and this is now on order for the holidays. If they knew how simple it was to make, I would be out of business!! Make this, stand back and watch the compliments come in!!

Crust:

Either one box of Vanilla wafers or one and one half sleeve of graham crackers. (Any flavor of graham cracker is fine, but I will tell you that Cinnamon grahams make the BEST crust!) Crushed
One half stick (1/4 cup) of butter (No Margarine or shortening) at room temperature
1/4 cup of sugar
Either 1/3 of a vanilla bean, 1/4 tsp of vanilla paste, or 1 tsp of good quality Vanilla extract

Take the crumbs and sugar and mix together. Add in the butter and mix until it looks like wet sand. Add in the Vanilla. (Note: if using a vanilla bean, open the bean and scrape out the seeds. Add the seed paste.) Press this into a 9 inch springform pan. Bake for about 15 minute at 350. (Note: if crust does not form into wet sand, add a little more butter.) Cool.

Filling:

2 8 oz bricks of cream cheese, room temperature
2 8 oz bricks of light cream cheese, room temperature
either 1/2 vanilla bean, 1/2 tsp of vanilla paste, or 2 tsp of good quality vanilla extract
lime juice (up to one tablespoon)
1 tablespoon lime zest
1/2 cup of sugar
2 egg yolks

Place the Cream cheeses into a mixing bowl. Beat until blended together. Add in sugar, one teaspoon of the lime juice, and vanilla. Beat until fully incorporated. Check the sweetness. If it's too sweet, add in another teaspoon of Lime juice. Beat again. Check the sweetness again. repeat with last teaspoon of lime juice if it's too sweet. If it's too tart, add in one and a half teaspoons of sugar. It should taste slightly sweet, but have a very slight kickback of tart. Once this is achieved, put in two egg yolks. Beat until fully mixed. Pour into the springform pan. Place a 13 by 9 pan into the bottom rack of an oven. Boil about 2 quarts of water, and then place the boiling water into the 13 by 9 pan. (Please NOTE! THE Water is KEY in keeping the cheesecake moist and it MUST be Boiling so that it doesn't take away from the baking of the cheesecake!) Place the springform pan onto the rack above the pan of water. (Not INTO the pan of water) Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes to an hour or until the filling is set and slightly puffy. (There should be very little to no browning on the filling. Add extra boiling water to the 13 by 9 pan as needed.) Allow the baked cheesecake to come to room temperature, then place into the fridge for at least 2 to 4 hours, or overnight.

To serve, pull the ring off the springform pan, using a knife dipped in warm water and then wiped, cut into 12 wedges, using a clock method. (Starting at 12 to 6, then 9 to 3, then 10 to 4, 11 to 5, 2 to 8, and 1 to 7)

You could make your own topping by heating your favorite frozen fruit in 1/4 cup of sugar and water until a syrup is formed, or you could just cheat and use a pie filling already made in a jar or can. (Jar would be better.)

Variations:

Strawberry: before you bake the filling, add in 1/3 cup of a strawberry compote and swirl

Chocolate: Use chocolate graham crackers for the crust, add in about 1/4 cup of cocoa powder to the filling, omit the lime zest and juice. Top with Chocolate shavings

Lemon juice or Orange Juice may be used in place of the lime juice. Use the same zest with the juice. (Lemon Juice, Lemon zest.)

Rainbow Cheesecake: Use colored vanilla wafers. Divide the filling into 6 small bowls. Use 4 drops of red, blue, green, and yellow. Use 1 drop yellow and 3 drops red for orange, 2 drops red and two drops blue for purple. Pour the purple into the bottom, followed by the blue, then green, yellow, orange, and ending in red. Bake according to the directions. You may also use this for a Tie Dyed Cheesecake, swirling the colors by cutting a knife in an "S" pattern up and down, then left to right.