Original New York Cheesecake - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons butter or 3 tablespoons margarine, melted
5 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened must be Philadelphia if you can
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs

Preparation

Bring all ingredients to room temperature (this helps to prevent cracking).
MIX crumbs, 3 tablespoons sugar and butter;.
press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. (using a hamburger press handle works great for this!).
Bake at 325\u00b0F for 10 minutes.
MIX cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, flour and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.
Blend in sour cream. mix well
Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition, just until blended. Do not over mix!
Pour over crust.
Run a knife through to remove any air bubbles.
BAKE 1 hour and 5 minutes to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until center is almost set. 325 \u00b0F for a silver springform pan 300 \u00b0F if using a dark nonstick pan
Crack oven door open slightly and allow cheesecake to temper for about 30 minutes.
Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake;.
Remove rim of pan.
Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. (This is a must!).
Top with cherry pie filling and garnish, if desired.
Variation, 1/3 cup seedless strawberry jam can be dropped in spoonfuls over the batter and cut through the batter several times for marble effect before baking.
Variation #2 Cook above recipe and add 10 minutes before bake time ends. Mix 1 cup sour cream, 2 Tbsp sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla together and carefully spread over cheesecake and bake 10 minutes longer. When serving, top with mixed berries!
Variation #3 Before serving, melt caramels in the microwave until smooth, stir in chopped pecans in desired and spoon on top of each slice.
Variation #4 Before serving, Crush us peanut butter cups press lightly into top of cheescake and drizzle with chocolate syrup.
Variation #5 Before serving, Cut cheesecake into cubes if desired, and drizzle with melted chocolate. Refrigerate for chocolate to harden.