Mmmm Cheesecake!

So I heard this rumor it's National Cheesecake Day!  How are you celebrating?  I wish I had planned ahead and made my favorite cheesecake to enjoy today.  Of course I didn't, so I'm settling for sharing my favorite cheesecake recipe with you instead.  (Besides, I'd much rather share the recipe, than share the cheesecake!)

I have to confess that I used to despise cheesecake.  It was always just too rich and never tasted good to me.  I even sat on my sister's birthday cheesecake once, on accident (the cake was covered up), but I'm sure at the time she thought it was because I didn't like them!  So basically I avoided cheesecake until my husband introduced me to this recipe.  This New York style cheesecake is D-I-V-I-N-E!  The recipe is from Cook's Illustrated, who I always trust to come up with the best because they test everything and really get behind the science of how to cook, or in this case bake, well.

I'm not going to post the actual recipe because I'm sure its copyrighted.  The recipe is available on Cook's Illustrated website if you are a member or in a 2002 publication of the magazine (sorry I can't figure out which one at the moment!).  It's also been spotted on many recipe sites online.  The picture above is from The Baking Pan.  They include not only the cheesecake recipe, but also the amazing strawberry topping recipe to go with it.  They also give Cook's Illustrated the credit in their sources which so many other sites do not!

This cheesecake is great by itself, but a delicious topping really does put it over the top!  The strawberry is a regular around here, but I've also taken quite a liking to a blackberry topping made using the same recipe just substituting blackberries and blackberry jam.  So if you are planning on making this cheesecake, definitely plan on making a great topping too!

Here's a picture of the last cheesecake I made.  It may not be the prettiest thing in the world, but trust me it is one of the best tasting cheesecakes you'll ever eat!

And there's no reason you can't add a little color to it!  I made this cheesecake for my daughter's first birthday party last year.  The colorful surprise was definitely a treat!  Follow steps 6 and 7 on the cheesecake recipe found here to get the rainbow pattern.

I forgot to clean off the spatula before pouring the purple into the cake so that's why there are some plain cheesecake swirls mixed in on the top!  

That didn't stop us from enjoying it though.  Here's the birthday girl enjoying her slice!  I can't believe this was over a year ago already!!