NEW YORK CHEESECAKE

I tried at least a dozen recipes before finally finding this one... not sure where I found it but it was the best. The original recipe called for lemon zest but I like to have a variety of toppings on my cheesecake and the lemon can interfere so I eliminated it. If you eat it plain you may to add the want to add the zest with the vanilla!


FOR CRUST
1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
5 tablespoons melted butter
1/8 teaspoon salt

FOR FILLING
40 ounces room temperature cream cheese
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla

CHERRY TOPPING
2 cans tart unsweetened cherries packed in water, reserve juice
2/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch


Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees.
Grease 9" springform pan.

TO MAKE CRUST:
Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter and press into bottom of prepared pan. Set aside.

TO MAKE FILLING:
Beat cream cheese in bowl of stand mixer until softened. Add sugar and flour. Beat again. Add eggs and yolks,and beat again scraping sides of bowl frequently. Add vanilla and beat until fluffy.

Pour over crust and bake at 500 degrees for 12 minutes. Lower temperature to 200 and bake until center slightly wobbly about 45 minutes. To prevent cracking, when baking complete, turn oven off, open oven door and let sit for an hour. Then remove and set a room temp until cool. Then refrigerate.

TO MAKE TOPPING:
Place cherries and 1 can juice in saucepan. Add sugar and cornstarch and stir. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring often until mixture boils and begins to thicken. Be sure to stir but don't smash cherries. If cherries get too tick, add more cherry juice. If too thin, take some of the left over cherry juice (about 3-4 tablespoons) and add cornstarch to make gravy consistency. Add small amounts of this to the cooking cherries until desired thickness is achieved. Pour cherries onto cookie sheet to cool. Once cheesecake is cool, top with cherries.