Homemade Cheesecake

For one of my other classes this week I needed to pick a food and write about its history and culture. For that particular paper I decided to write it on Cheesecake:

The history of Cheesecake dates all of the way back to circa 2,000 B.C on the Greek island of Samos. The first known documented recipe for cheese cake was created by Athenaeus around 230A.D..There is strong evidence that the Greeks believed cheesecake was a good source of energy and was served at the first Olympic games in 776 B.C.. It was also not unusual around this time period for Greek weddings to use cheesecake as their wedding cake.     

The recipe I used can be found at:

 http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/classic-cheesecake-recipe2/index.html

Ingredients
Crust:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch fine salt

Filling:

2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups sour cream
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla  extract

Topping:

3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
Berries, optional

This was very hard to make and took a really long time but in the end was well work it. It seemed like each step was critical not to mess-up or over mix the ingredients. Next time I would like to try to add a flavor to the cheesecake such as Oreo but for this week I am just glad that it turned out. The Only thing I would have changed is the amount of crust. The crust was very thick and relatively salty. Now that I this recipe is something I can make well, I look forward to sharing it with my friends and family