Red, White and Blue Cheesecake

I’ve been on a hiatus for a few weeks now, and it was needed.  However,  I did miss my readers and knew that I had to come back with something to make up for lost time.  In honor of the fastly approaching Fourth of July holiday I decided to make this seasonal and delicious cheesecake.  Now who doesn’t love cheesecake?? I know I do!   This is an impressive, yet quite easy dessert to make.  I love berries, so I used a combination of blackberries, blueberries and strawberries.  You can use just one berry or any combination of berries.   Serve this at your fourth of  July party and you guest won’t be disappointed.

Lemon Cheesecake with Mixed berries

Crust

5 graham crackers

3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp melted butter

Filling

16 oz cream cheese,  room temperature

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

zest of 1 lemon

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

8 oz sour cream

Sour Cream Topping

8 oz sour cream

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mixed Berry Topping

4 cups of mixed berries, I used blackberries, blueberries and strawberries

1/3 cup strawberry preserves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the crust, crush graham crackers.  Add melted butter and sugar, mix well.  Press into bottom of 10 inch springform pan and bake for 10 mins.  Remove from oven.

To make filling, mix cream cheese, eggs, vanilla extract, zest of lemon, sugar and lemon juice until  smooth.  Pour into crust and bake for 45 mins.  Remove from oven. Mix sour cream, vanilla and sugar together.  Spread evenly to the top of the cheesecake and return to oven.  Bake for an additional 15 mins.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely, about 2-3 hours.

To make mixed berry topping, add berries and strawberry preserves in a bowl and mix well.  Pile the berry topping over the cheesecake when it has completely cooled.  Enjoy!!