Here’s decadent and delicious dessert for Valentine’s Day. My “Classic Cheesecake” is is rich — but then it is Valentine’s Day and this cheesecake very much worth it!. I think my recipe is just as good as any traditional New York style cheesecake. And I added a chocolate Oreo crumb crust and served it with a cherry sauce. Yum.

Every cook needs a good, down-to-earth recipe for cheesecake. My cheesecake is a traditional one and it is just right in flavor and texture. The recipe yields a cheesecake that is not too, too large but also not too small. It can be varied with different types of crusts, toppings and favor extracts. I love lemon cheesecake and cappuccino cheesecake is pretty good, too. So, surprise someone special and whip this up for Valentine’s Day.
Recipe

Making a cheesecake really isn’t difficult at all. It uses just a few ingredients. After making a couple of cheesecakes, I decided on proportions of ingredients to yield a cheesecake that has a good flavor and is not quite as dense as many cheesecakes. It is made with cream cheese, sugar, eggs and just a bit of flour. Vanilla extract really brings out the flavor. Plus, I added just a small amount of sour cream. This helped “lighten” the texture of the cake.

To make the cheesecake, soften the cream cheese at room temperature for a couple hours. Then beat all the ingredients–except the sour cream — together using an electric mixer until light and airy. It really helps to let the cream cheese soften. I can’t stress that step enough. Lastly, mix in the sour cream. Pour over the prepared chocolate crumb crust.

Bake in a 325 degree oven for about one hour until set in the center (when the cake doesn’t jiggle). It will puff up.

I baked this one a little longer. Perhaps, just a bit longer than needed. But it was still okay. Turn the oven off and let the cheesecake “rest” in the oven for an hour. It will “deflate” over the hour. Don’t forget about it. Then run a knife around the edges, remove the sides of the spring-form pan and chill the cheesecake further in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Oreo Crumb Crust

I love chocolate. So for the crust, rather than using a traditional graham cracker crust, I decided to make a chocolate cookie crust. Oreo cookies are easy to find in grocery stores. Scrape off the center filling and crush up the cookies. I use a zip-lock bag for this step.Add butter to the crushed crumbs and press into the bottom and part way up the sides of the spring-form pan. Bake for 10 minutes in 350 degree oven. Two cups of crushed cookies (which is 30 whole cookies) may seem like alot but this makes a generous crust. And I like chocolate.

Cherry Topping

A fruit sauce adds a flavorful dimension to a cheesecake. Make this ahead of time (even the prior day) and let it chill in the refrigerator until thickened. I made a cherry topping for this special event using canned red, tart pitted cherries with the juice, sugar and lemon juice. Cornstarch was the thickener.

Dissolve the cornstarch in water. Add the drained cherry juice and lemon juice. Cook and stir in a medium-sized pot on the stove until the sauce thickens and bubbles. Then add the cherries and cook for an additional minute.

Remove from the stove and transfer to a non-metallic container. Let the sauce chill and thicken for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Before serving, remove the cheesecake from the refrigerator and pour on the cherry sauce. Cut and serve.

Here’s the cheesecake. Love it! Happy Valentine’s Day!