The other best part was that I could take cheesecake home with me all the time! This cheesecake, in my opinion, is better than any at Cheesecake Factory. When I quit working there, I constantly craved this stuff. I just did the next best thing. I made myself an entire cheesecake to devour! Yum!!
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Bake Time: 45 minutes
Cooling Time: 2 hours
Ingredients:
Crust:
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 egg yolk, beaten
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cheesecake Filling:
- 16 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 Tablespoons corn starch
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 Tablespoons butter, softened
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 vanilla bean
Vanilla Mousse:
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
- 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 4 oz. white chocolate, melted
Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream:
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1 vanilla bean
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Directions:
Crust:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a springform pan with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray. Mix graham cracker crumbs and sugar in small mixing bowl. Add egg yolk and vanilla. Stir in melted butter. Press graham cracker mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pan.
- Bake 8 minutes, or until edges are slightly brown. Remove and let cool completely.
Cheesecake:
- Turn oven down to 350 degrees F.
- Combine cream cheese, sour cream, corn starch, and sugar. Mix until the sugar is dissolved. Add butter, vanilla, and beans*. Blend until smooth. (Don't overmix!) (*To remove the "caviar" from a vanilla bean, run a knife down the middle from one end to the other. Scrape out the "caviar" with the pointed end of your knife.)
- Bake 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely, 1 hour.
Mousse:
- In a cold mixing bowl, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Slowly add powdered sugar and mix until stiff peaks form. Place cream in a separate, smaller bowl; set in the fridge to chill.
- In the same mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add white chocolate and beat until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream; set aside.
Whipped Cream:
- In a cold bowl, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Slowly add powdered sugar and vanilla bean "caviar" until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
It's Assembly Time!
- Once the cheesecake has completely cooled, spread mousse on top evenly. Refrigerate 1 hour.
- Remove springform and foil from the cheesecake. Using a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tip, add the whipped cream. (To make it easier, you can also spread a smooth layer of whipped cream on top!)