Recipe: Creamy Cheesecake (The Birthday Cheesecake)

Creamy Cheesecake (The Birthday Cheesecake)
Yield: 14 Servings

4 pk (8 oz. ea) cream cheese
2 ea med eggs
1 cup sugar, less 2 tb
1 ts vanilla
2 tb cornstarch
1 c sour cream
1 ts almond extract

crust:
2 c graham cracker crumbs
1 ea stick of butter, melted
2 tb sugar (from above cup)

For crust: Mix the 2 T sugar with crumbs. Add melted butter. Place in a 9" springform pan. (Mixture will go at least 1" up the sides.) Chill this crust in the freezer while you make the filling.

Filling: Preheat oven to 450. Beat the cream cheese with sugar, eggs, vanilla and cornstarch. (A food processor works great for this.) Blend until very smooth. Add the sour cream and almond extract. Pour into the chilled crust. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 200 and bake for 45 minutes more. Now turn off the oven completely and leave cheesecake in with the door slightly ajar for 2 or 3 more hours. Chill.