Cheesecake - Attempt No. 1

This weekend the Hubs and I had a tiny dinner party with another couple. I We couldn't wait to make a fancy meal and use as many new kitchen tools as possible.

Kitchen Too1 #1: My super sassy Black and White Polka Dot Apron. A shower gift from my sister.

The first thing I made Saturday, was the last thing we were going to eat... Cheesecake. I had dreams of making a pumpkin cheesecake or peanut butter cheesecake with strawberry topping, a PB&J Cheesecake if you will? But the Hubs really wanted me to make a cheesecake where he could really taste the cheesiness (his word not mine, although it does sound like something I would say). Anyway to make him happy, I made Chantal's New York Cheesecake from All Recipes.com.

Kitchen Tool #2: My Green Mixing Bowls

This is me mixing the melted butter margarine with the graham cracker I crumbed myself, thankyouverymuch.

This recipe also allowed me to break out Kitchen Tool #3: My Martha Stewart Kitchenaid Mixer!
No picture of me with it because the Hubs was too busy hooking the speakers up to his laptop... BOO!

INGREDIENTS
15 graham crackers, crushed
2 tablespoons butter, melted

4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch springform pan. (I failed here, I didn't have a springform pan, nor the desire to drive to more than one store to find one. I just used a 9" backing pan).
In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan. (I'm not gonna lie - crushed graham cracker and butter is GOOOOOD).
In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust. (I would recommend not using the Kitchenaid mixer for this and using either a hand mixer or food processor because I had a lot of left over cream cheese stuck to the side of the bowl).
Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.

The Strawberry sauce is just something I whipped up really quickly to make the cheesecake look better. It was Easy Peasy.

Ingredients
Frozen Strawberries (un-sweetened)
Splenda
Cinnamon
Brandy
Water

I put the frozen strawberries in a glass measuring cup with about 1/2" of water and defrosted them. Then, with kitchen scissors (because that is how the pros do it) I cut the strawberries up. Added a shot of Brandy, about 1 Tbsp of cinnamon and Splenda to taste. I just reheated it when it was time to pour it over the cheesecake.