Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

For Easter dinner, I was in charge of dessert. I've been wanting to make this cheesecake recipe for a long time, and knew this would be the perfect occasion to try it out. Also, Eric's uncle - his favorite dessert of all time is cheesecake! I found this recipe at Bake at 350's blog, her cookies and desserts are so beautiful and perfectly crafted, her food looks like artwork. She has a fantastic photo step-by-step post of the recipe, too. The main reason why I picked this recipe was the use of vanilla bean paste in the recipe. You could easily substitute vanilla extract, but the vanilla bean paste gives the beautiful black flecks in the creamy white cheesecake. I bought mine at Sur La Table and it could be found at speciality cake shops, too. I'm sorry Cheesecake Factory, but this recipe supercedes your original cheesecake!

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake
Adapted from Bake at 350 source from King Arthur Flour
Ingredients:
Graham Cracker Crust:
1 & 3/4 cups crushed graham crackers
4 tablespoon melted butter
4 teaspoon. sugar
1/8 teaspoon coarse salt
1. Combine all ingredients. Press into the bottom of a 9" springform pan. Bake at 350for 10 minutes. Let cool completely.
Cheesecake:
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 & 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
4 eggs
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons of lemon zest
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
1 cup sour cream, full fat
1/2 cup heavy cream
Sanding sugar*optional*
Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 325.
2. On low speed, beat the cream cheese until no lumps remain; scraping down the sides as needed. Add the sugar and salt and beat until combined. Add the eggs one at a time until the mixture is smooth before adding the next egg. Scrape the bottom of the bowl after each addition.
3. Stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla bean paste, sour cream and heavy cream until smooth.
4. Pour onto the cooled crust and bake 50 minutes or so until the edges are set and the cheesecake is a light golden brown. The middle will still jiggle when the pan is shaken.
5. Turn off the oven, crack the door and let the cheesecake cool in the oven for 1 hour. (This helps prevent cracking.) The center will finish setting in the oven.
6. After 1 hour, remove the cheesecake from the oven and run a knife around the edge of the pan.
Raspberry Sauce
2 teaspoon cornstarch
3 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup water
12 ounces frozen raspberries, thawed
Preparation
1. In a small saucepan, stir together the cornstarch, sugar and water. Add the raspberries and cook over medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture boils. Continue stirring and boil one additional minute.
Pour the sauce into a mesh sieve placed over a bowl to remove seeds. The sauce can be served warm or cold. Store in the refrigerator.
When serving the cheesecake, I cut the slices for everyone, drizzled the raspberry sauce, and added little bits of sanding sugar for that extra touch of Krystal love! Everyone loved how my cheesecake sparkled!
Review: PPPPPPPPPP--EEEEEEEEE--RRRRRRR---FECT!!!!! I love this cheesecake just as much as my go-to Mascarpone Cheesecake. This was a nice change up and a great recipe to be enjoyed with the family. The tang from the lemon and the vanilla bean paste was a creamy heaven, a very classic take on the dish. Happy belated Easter everyone!