Cheesecake Supreme
Submitted by Nicolette
A from-scratch cheesecake with a buttery lemon shortbread crust, rich cream cheese filling, and homemade tart cherry sauce. This is the cheesecake you make when you mean business.
YIELD
1 cakePREP
20 minCOOK
70 minREADY
2 hrsThis is not a shortcut cheesecake. This is the real deal, built from the ground up.
The crust is a lemon-scented shortbread dough, pressed onto the bottom and sides of a springform pan and baked until golden. The filling is 24 ounces of cream cheese beaten with sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, eggs, and milk into something impossibly smooth.
Then it bakes low and slow until just set, cools gradually, and gets crowned with a glossy homemade tart cherry sauce that’s worth the extra effort all by itself.
Yes, it takes time. But every person who takes a bite will know it.
Chef Tips
- Pat the side crust only 1 ¾ inches high so it doesn’t overwhelm the filling
- Start at high heat then drop the temperature without opening the oven door to prevent cracking
- Cool in stages: 15 minutes with the pan, 30 more after removing the sides, then 2 hours at room temperature before chilling
- Make the cherry sauce ahead and chill it separately. Spoon it on right before serving for the best presentation.
Ingredients
Directions
To prepare crust, combine the ¾ cup flour, the 3 tablespoons flour, the 3 tablespoons sugar, and the ½ teaspoon of the lemon peel.
Cut in butter until crumbly.
Stir in 1 slightly beaten egg yolk and ¼ teaspoon of the vanilla.
Pat ⅓ of the dough onto the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch spring- form pan (with sides removed).
Bake in a 400℉ (200℃) oven for 7 minutes or until golden.
Cool.
Butter the sides of pan; attach to bottom.
Pat remaining dough onto sides of pan to a height of 1 ¾ inches; set aside.
For the filling, in a large mixer bowl beat together the softened cream cheese, remining lemon peel, and remaining vanilla until fluffy.
Stir together the 1 cup sugar, the 2 tablespoons flour, and the salt; gradually stir into cream cheese mixture.
Add the 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk all at once, beating at low speed just until combined.
Stir in milk. Turn into crust-lined pan.
Bake in a 450F oven for 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to 300F; bake 50 to 55 minutes more or until center appears set and a knife comes out clean.
Cool 15 minutes.
Loosen sides of cheesecake from pan with a spatula.
Cool 30 minutes; remove sides of pan.
Cool about 2 hours longer.
Chill thoroughly. Top with Cherry Sauce. Cherry Sauce: In a saucepan combine ¾ cups sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, and dash salt. Stir in ⅓ cup water. Stir in 4 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened pitted tart red cherries, thawed. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes more. Cover. Chill without stirring.
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