Berry Cheesecake with Sour Cream Topping

cheesecake-slice-300x174We’re excited to offer a fresh dessert recipe from our newest contributor Lisi, Lisi’s Luscious Desserts, Berry Cheesecake with Sour Cream Topping. The store is full of fresh berries this week – a great time to make a berry cheesecake! This mixed berry cheesecake was adapted from Lisi’s mother’s recipe. Not a light and fluffy cheesecake, it is dense and rich and packed with berries of your choosing.
Berry Cheesecake with Sour Cream Topping
1 7/8 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup plus
2 tablespoons sugar
7.5 tablespoons melted butter (almost one stick)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound (2 – 8 oz packs cream cheese – not whipped!)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla,
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or more to taste),
3/4 teaspoon salt mixed berries (about 2 cups – I use 1 cup blueberries and 1/2 cup each blackberries and raspberries – but do what you love – more or less – one type of berry or even no berries.)
Topping: 
1 1/2 cups sour cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla,
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix crumbs, sugar, melted butter and salt. Squish mixture into an 8 or 9 inch spring-form pan and bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes. In mixer, mix cream cheese and sugar – when blended, add eggs one at a time and mix well. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again. Add the vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Remove from mixer and by hand, fold in the berries being careful not to break them into pieces. Pour mixture into pre-baked crust and continue to bake at 375 for about 30 minutes. (Sometimes the butter from the crust leaks out of my pan, not sure why, and onto the oven floor so I often line the shelf below with tin foil to catch the drips and make clean up easier.) As usual, remember to set your timer for 25 minutes and then check every 5-3 minutes thereafter so that you do not over cook. Put cake on wire rack and let cool for about 15- 30 minutes. Raise the oven temp to 400 degrees and make the topping. Mix the sour cream, sugar, vanilla and salt and spread on top of the baked cheesecake. This tastes delicious and also covers any cracks in the cheesecake. Pop in the oven for 5 minutes to set. Remove and once cool, cover with plastic wrap and let set in the refrigerator. The following day, or several hours later, run a knife around the edges of the pan, unlock the spring and un-mold the cake. If you have a hard time releasing the crust from the pan you can cut in slices first and then remove. Enjoy the love and smiles from your family and friends…
We welcome Lisi’s Luscious Desserts to our Recipe Blog today. This collection of what Lisi, a Cordon Bleu trained baker, loves best in baking. We know you will love the stories and her full range of good and good for you treats. Lisi bakes to to support the efforts of My Sisters’ Place, who strives to engage each member of society in their work to end domestic violence.