Cheesecake

I bake.
A lot.
But, I had never tackled a cheesecake.
Until a very special someone deserved her favortie dessert.
So, I jumped in and gave it a shot.
And it worked!

Topped with some fresh raspberries.
It's a good thing I didn't bring home the left overs :)
So, here it is - straight off the good 'ol internet - with my changes noted.
(Because I rarely do anything exactly like I'm supposed to.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Gluten Free Nut Crust Supreme
2 cups Pamela’s Gluten Free Baking (or regular flour)
½ cup dark brown sugar (I used light)
2/3 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces (I used salted)
1 cup finely chopped pecans

Spray cheesecake pan lightly with vegetable oil spray. In a medium bowl stir together the flour mix and brown sugar. Cut in the butter until fine crumbs form. Stir in the nuts and pat into your pan. (I mixed all of this in the food processor) The crust will be “crumbly” but will hold together once pressed into the pan. This will be more than enough for one large cheesecake and perhaps for a second smaller pie. Though it tastes so good on it’s own you may just end up eating it!

Barbara’s Classic Gluten Free Cheesecake

4 – 8 oz bars of gluten free cream cheese, softened
1 cup of granulated sugar
2 eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla

Mix all of the ingredients with a beater until smooth and pour into the unbaked crust. Place in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

While that is baking, prepare the topping.( I totally skipped this step!!!!! I didn't use the topping)

2 cups gluten free sour cream
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon of gluten free almond extract
Juice from ½ a lemon

Mix the topping ingredients in a bowl. After the first 30 minutes of baking, remove the cheesecake and spoon the topping onto the cheesecake. Be careful not to overfill the pan. Return the cheesecake to the oven and bake for an additional 10-20 minutes. You may want to place a piece of foil under the cheesecake just to catch any drippings. Cooking times can vary dramatically depending upon the amount of topping you choose to use. Watch to see when it starts to solidify but don’t let it stay in so long that the crust begins to burn. (I baked it for 40 minutes without the topping. The middle should still look a little jiggly.)