Gluten Free Casually: New York Style Cheesecake

New York Cheesecake. Yummy! I absolutely love cheesecake. I think my kids would protest if I didn't make this for Christmas day. This year however, I really wanted to enjoy eating the cheesecake so I decided to make it gluten free. I took my original recipe (that I cut out from an old box of graham cracker crumbs years ago) and basically just substituted gluten free graham cracker crumbs and that was it. It turned out just as elegant and tasty as the original version. Baked cheesecakes are really not difficult to make but they sure look like you spent a lot of time preparing them. They always look elegant! I personally prefer cherry pie filling on mine but you can serve them plain or use melted chocolate or fresh fruit. My friend Jackie makes a delicious cheesecake topped with lemon curd. (I have not mastered lemon curd yet so I don't usually attempt that topping!) You can also add other things to the batter (like chocolate chips, candies, flavorings, etc) but I just like the traditional version best.

New York Cheesecake Recipe (Baked Cheesecake):

For crust:

2 cups of graham cracker crumbs (I substituted the gluten free version that I found at Sprouts market. You could also substitute any type of gluten free cookie crumbs instead OR you can make the nut shortbread crust from Rosemary's Dessert Squares posted on this blog on 1/14/13 instead)
3/4 stick real butter or margarine, melted
2 tbs. sugar

Toss the graham cracker crumbs (I used gluten free ones!) with the melted butter and 2 tbs. sugar. Press into a the bottom and about 2" up the sides of a 9" springform pan.

(GF graham crumbs I used)

For filling:

4 pkgs (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 tbs. cornstarch or tapioca starch
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (I used fat free plain greek yogurt today)

Beat cream cheese on medium speed until fluffy and smooth. Add sugar, corn starch (or tapioca starch) and beat until smooth and well combined. Add eggs one at a time. Add sour cream. Pour into crust and bake in pre-heated 325 degree oven for 75 minutes or until center is almost set. Turn oven off and leave cheesecake in oven with door ajar. (This will help prevent the top from cracking as it cools. I leave it in there for a couple of hours. I was in a hurry to bake other items today so I did not let it cool in the oven so the top cracked on my cheesecake - but no worries - I just added a can of cherry pie filling to the top and it still looked great!) Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving - but make sure it is completely cool before you put it in there or it will sweat. Store in refrigerator. (I put foil on top of my pan when it is cool and store in the refrigerator until I am ready to serve it and then I remove it from the pan and place it on a glass serving plate or cake stand). You can serve it plain or with any flavor pie filling, lemon curd or pour melted chocolate on top. The possibilities are endless!