Classic Norene Cheesecake

My daughter Jacki LOVES this cheesecake…my friend Marcia makes it & always tries to save Jacki a piece, which isn’t easy since everyone loves it so much!

The recipe is from NORENE GILLETZ, THE PLEASURES OF YOUR PROCESSOR… EASY CHEESE CAKE.

The cheesecake is made with basic ingredients which is great! Just a delicious vanilla cheesecake…sometimes there is nothing better than that.

There are many options for topping this delicious cheese cake. Marcia always uses a can of cherry pie filling which is delicious, but Murray likes strawberries so I made a strawberry topping… I will include the recipe for that. I used frozen strawberries, cooked them down with a bit of sugar & that is it. I did not thicken the sauce but certainly you can.  The other topping I would love on this cheesecake is just a drizzle of chocolate sauce on a piece of the cheesecake before serving! .(I love the Hershey’s chocolate sauce in the can)

After 35 minutes of baking, this cheesecake sits in the oven with the door open until it is cooled, Tip: if you are going to need your oven after making this dessert…you should make the cheesecake the day before you want to serve it…then your oven will be free to use!

Here is the recipe…exactly as it is in the cookbook

Ingredients

Crust

1 1/2 cups of graham wafer crumbs

6 tbsp soft butter

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cheesecake Filling

1 1/2 lbs cream cheese ( 680g) which is just about 3 boxes of cream cheese…

3 eggs

1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp vanilla

 

Method

Preheat the oven to 375f

Grease a 9 inch springform pan with non-stick spray

1. Prepare the crust… Put the graham wafer crumbs, butter, sugar & cinnamon into the bowl of your food processor. Mix well until the ingredients are well blended
2. Dump this crumb mixture into the prepared springform pan.
3. Clean & dry the processor bowl & blade. You will need it for the filling
4. Shake the pan to distribute the crumbs evenly throughout the pan
5. Press the crumb mixture evenly into the pan Set the pan aside until ready to put the filling in
6. Prepare the filling… Put the cream cheese, I broke it up into pieces… the eggs, sugar & vanilla into the food processor bowl & process until smooth. Stop the machine once in awhile & scrape down the sides, then continue processing until there are no chunks of cream cheese left
7. Pour the cheesecake filling into the prepared crust & smooth it out so it is distributed evenly in the pan
8. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes until the edges are brown & the cake is set. TURN OFF THE OVEN & LET THE CHEESECAKE SIT IN THE OVEN WITH THE OVEN DOOR OPEN A BIT UNTIL THE CHEESECAKE IS COOL! I am not sure how long this took… at least an hour or so.
9. Refrigerate the cheesecake.
10. Top the cheesecake with whatever topping you like!
11. This cheesecake can be frozen

Strawberry Topping

Ingredients 

4 cups strawberries, I used frozen…if you are using fresh, clean them cut the tops off & cut the strawberries in half

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp lemon juice

Method

1. Put the strawberries, sugar & lemon juice into a saucepan.
2. Mix well
3. Cook them over medium heat  until the strawberries are soft & have released their juice. Stir often
4. Bring to a boil
5.  Cook until this becomes a bit thick. about 10 minutes
6. You can mash some of the strawberries if you want & leave some in pieces..
7. This sauce does not get glossy & thick…it just gets kind of thick… which is how we like it
8. Let cool & serve with cheesecake or ice cream!

• YOU CAN SERVE THE CHEESECAKE IN A COUPLE WAYS:
• PLAIN
• WITH THE STRAWBERRY SAUCE IN A BOWL ON THE SIDE SO PEOPLE CAN PUT AS MUCH OF THE SAUCE AS THEY WANT ON THE CHEESECAKE,
• PUT THE STRAWBERRY SAUCE ALL OVER THE TOP OF THE CHEESECAKE AS I DID
• HAVE THE CHEESECAKE PLAIN & HAVE SOME CHOCOLATE SAUCE ON THE SIDE
• OR BOTH CHOCOLATE SAUCE & THE STRAWBERRY SAUCE ON THE SIDE SO PEOPLE CAN PUT WHAT EVER THEY WANT ON THEIR CHEESECAKE!

 

Enjoy