Cheesecake....Enough Said

Yes, I know, I've been MIA, but I have a good excuse....I'm getting married in 10 days! The time is flying by and the wedding planning is in full swing. I'm feeling good about how things are progressing and I'm not too stressed - other than the whole walking down the aisle thing but we don't need to talk about that now do we?

Last weekend I took a break from all things wedding to celebrate my dear fiance's birthday. We hosted a UFC fight at our house and went a little overboard on the food preparations. We always make too much but we never want anyone to leave hungry! My fiance is originally from upstate New York so the first birthday of his that we celebrated together I made a New York Style Cheesecake. It was a hit and I've been perfecting it every year since then. This year was declared to be the best yet. I also made a raspberry and blueberry sauce to serve alongside. Pictured is the blueberry sauce. They are both so yummy.

Cheesecake:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons sugar

2 1/2 pounds cream cheese, softened (I set it out on the counter the night before)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 of a lemon, zested
1 orange zested
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Butter the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. In a mixing bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar and mix well. Press onto bottom of springform pan and up around the edges. Use a wooden spoon to press the sides down fairly firm and bake until golden, about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool. When completely cooled, butter the sides of the pan.

Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, sugar, zests and vanilla and beat until light and creamy. Add the flour, then the eggs and yolks 1 at a time, mixing for at least 1 minute after each addition. Add the sour cream and mix until smooth. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for 12 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees F and bake for 1 hour more. Transfer cake to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Refrigerate cake overnight before serving.

Use a knife dipped in hot water to slice the cake easier. Top with fruit topping.

Fruit Topping:
2-3 packages blueberries or raspberries
1/2 cup water
2-3 T extra fine sugar
1-2 T Amaretto Liqueur - optional

In a small saucepan over medium heat add the fruit, water and suger. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer at least 10-15 minutes. Add Amaretto and combine well. Remove from heat and refrigerate in airtight container until ready to serve