Valentines Day! Conversation Heart Cheesecake

Hello!!

Paul and I celebrated an early Valentines day this weekend.  For my gift to him, I made him a cheesecake that looked like a giant conversation heart!!  I got the idea from pinterest (my latest obsession) and the recipe from allrecipies.com.

Things you'll need
• A heart-shaped springform pan (i found one at my local baking supply store)
• A large pan (for the water bath)
• Red Gel food coloring

Ingredients for the Crust (I read user comments and changed the crust from the original recipe)
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup sugar

Ingredients for the Cheesecake
• 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

So here it goes! I made changes to the recipe here and there based on the comments on the recipe.  The result was a FABULOUS/PERFECT looking cheesecake (the crust was another story -__-)

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and sides a 9 inch springform pan. I used PAM.  Make sure you have good coverage, one of the reasons cheesecakes crack is when the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan.  If the pan is well greased, it will help prevent cracking.
2.     In a medium bowl, mix the crust ingredients together. Press onto bottom and up the sides a bit of springform pan.
3.     Wrap the entire pan with double layers of foil to prevent water from the water bath from seeping into the pan.  MAKE SURE THE FOIL GOES AROUND THE PAN HIGH ENOUGH!! apparently mine wasnt.. and water seeped into the bottom of the pan and the crust was SOGGY :(
4.     Set pan aside

5.     In a large mixing bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth.  I used my kitchenaid stand mixer and mixed on low until smooth.  If youre going to color the cheesecake, this is where you would add the food coloring.

6.     USING A SPATULA 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.

7.     Place the pan into a larger pan (i used a large roasting pan) and put it in the oven.  Pour hot water into the larger pan around the springform pan so that it comes up the side of the pan about 1"

8.     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 (*Note: I left it in for 3hrs and it came out fine). Chill in refrigerator until serving.

The cheesecake was PERFECT, the crust was another story! the cheesecake itself was smooth, firm, it didnt crack :) it was DELICIOUS! The color was GREAT! the outside was a dark pink, reddish color and the inside was bright pink.

well, my water bath LEAKED into my pan... probably bc it was an odd sized pan and the foil didnt go up the sides high enough :( the crust was a soggy mess! it wasnt as bad in the middle though, that part tasted great.  LESSON LEARNED!!