Cheesecake

It was my first solo cheesecake baking experience. I was a little nervous, because usually Dustin makes it. He has pretty much perfected the recipe, and has it down to an exact science. Every time he bakes one, it keeps getting better and better. Well, except for that one time he fell asleep while it was in the oven and didn't wake up until two hours after the timer went off. But, it wasn't a complete disaster. We learned that you can't really over bake a cheesecake. Surprisingly, it was still pretty moist and tasty, and just a little overdone around the edges. No one was complaining when they gobbled it up at my in-laws house! So, after recalling that experience, I knew I couldn't screw up that bad.

I dug out the recipe and made it on his birthday, with very few mistakes, I might add. I realized I forgot to put a Tbsp of sugar in the graham cracker crust after I pressed it into the pan, but caught the mistake before I poured the filling in. Then, I accidentally used the 10" pan instead of the 9", so it baked faster than usual. The internal cake temp got a little high. But no problem! (See previous paragraph). After all the hard work, the cheesecake needed lots of time cooling off, then chilling in the fridge overnight. So we didn't get to sing and blow out the candles until the next day. But it was worth the wait! It tasted really good. I waited on pins and needles as Dustin took his first bite. He ate silently for a good while as I prodded, "So? Is it ok? Did I do a good job!?" Finally, I took his silence to mean that he didn't want to stop eating to answer my insistent questions. Success!

So here is my cheesecake picture collage for your viewing pleasure. Can you almost taste the deliciousness through your computer screen? No? Aw, that's too bad...