Franklin Foodies: New York Style Cheesecake. (won second place in our cheesecake challenge)

Bring all ingredients to room temp
Preheat oven to 350F (conventional)
Grind your Graham crackers, sugar and butter in a food processor until really smooth
Butter the bottom of a 9” springform pan and add the crust ingredients. Pack very tightly using a measuring cup. You can push a little up the edges. Bake for 8 min, then set oven temp to 325F
For the cheesecake batter, first cream the cream cheese for 3-5 min until creamy. Keep scraping the sides of the bowl to ensure everything combines evenly. Add the sugar, salt and vanilla and cream again for 5 min until well combined
Break your eggs in a separate bowl and whisk lightly. Don’t overbeat because if the eggs get airy they will give a spongy texture to the cheesecake. Add them to the batter slowly and mix at a low speed until JUST combined
Add the cream, sour cream, lemon juice and cornstarch and mix at low speed until just combined. Keep scraping sides of the bowl
Pour the batter into the crust. Seal your pan tightly with aluminum foil on the outside (not on the top)

Place a large tray in your oven and fill it with 1-2 inches of boiling water. Place the pan in the water and bake for about 75-80 min. Don’t open the oven. When done, the cheesecake should have firm edges but be very jiggly inside
Cool at room temp for 15 min. Then release the cheesecake from springform edges using a butter knife (don't open the edges yet!), cover with foil and cool for 2-3 hours at room temp. After this, place in the fridge and chill overnight
Decorate with whipped cream if you’d like & serve!

Franklin Foodies