When I was a child, our local markets would sell cheesecake by the slice… fragile slice of cheesecake in clingwrap with no base. It was sweet and smooth and richly luscious on the tongue. I loved it. Then someone told me cheesecake was easy to make - just follow the recipe on the box of graham cracker crumbs. They were right, it was easy but I quickly overdosed and lost my taste for the stuff. Then I was served a sour cream free cheesecake… yum! The search was on: I tested every sour cream free cheesecake recipe I found in the library (this was pre-internet days). The best was Craig Claiborne's Classic Cheesecake. I’ve since modified it by swirling in blackberry or raspberry juice but it’s delicious with or without the fruit.
Crust:
1 packet graham crackers (of three in box) rolled into crumbs, ~ 1 cup cookie crumbs (vanilla wafer crumbs work also)
1/2 stick of melted butter
Berry Swirl:
1 pint fresh or frozen berries, thawed
Batter:
2 lbs. Philadelphia cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
4 eggs
Move oven rack to next to last lowest position in oven and preheat oven to 350°. Grease the sides of one 8 or 9 inch round removable bottom or springform cake pan.
For crust: thoroughly mix graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press evenly into bottom of pan.
For berry swirl: discard moldy berries and break up berries in a food processor or blender. Strain pulp through a fine mesh sieve and discard the seeds. Want 1/2-3/4 cup berry juice.
For cake: beat cream cheese, vanilla, sugar and lemon juice with standing mixer, scraping sides and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula as needed, until completely smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating until just incorporated to avoid adding air to the mix.
Pour about 1/3 of the batter into pan. Swirl pan to level the batter. Evenly distribute about half the berry juice on top of batter (use squeeze bottle or ziplock bag with snipped corner). Repeat with another third of batter, retain about 1-1/2 tablespoons of berry juice. Pour in remaining third of batter. With last of berry juice, randomly place individual drops of juice over batter. With toothpick or skewer, draw through each droplet of juice for attractive swirl.
Wrap bottom of pan with aluminum foil (place square of foil on counter, place pan in center and lift corners of foil to fold/crush foil over sides of pan). Have about 2 quarts of hot tap water ready to pour. Place a larger deep pan (I use a 13x9 inch pan) onto oven and gently place prepared foiled wrapped cake pan inside. Carefully pour hot water into outer pan to about 1 inch deep.
Bake until top of cake is lightly golden brown and center jiggles when lightly shaken, about 1 ½ hours.
Lift cake from water and cool for 3 hours on a cake rack. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours before unmolding.
Serve as is or with any remaining berry juice.
