I’m so glad I found this old recipe card!
When I saw this recipe in an old recipe tin, I didn’t give it much of a thought. Simply titled “Cheese Cake,†and then clarified in smaller writing to the right: “Judys Cheese Cake,†there wasn’t really much that drew my eye to the plain index card with shaky handwriting. On a second pass through the stack of vintage recipes though, I took a closer look and once I saw the crust ingredients, I just knew I had to make it.
See, the crust is made with Nilla wafer cookies, and when I read that I had this sudden memory of a banana cream pudding pie my mom used to make that was lined with those cookies. That pie was good… but what I remember most is that I would eagerly eat the remaining wafers out of the box. We didn’t have them around that often when I was a kid, but I loved them. And so I thought, I have to make this cheesecake. That crust is going to be amazing! Well, I’m sure glad I did. Because it was.
Serves 8-10
40 minutes active, 24 hours inactive
INGREDIENTS
For the crust:
40 vanilla wafers, crushed into crumbs
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
For the cheesecake:
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the sour cream topping:
1 pint (2 cups) sour cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 375° F and lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan (or pie pan). Set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix together wafer crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup melted butter until well combined. Press mixture into bottom of prepared pan.
Bake 8 minutes, then set on wire rack to cool.
In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla, and eggs, and beat together with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour mixture into cooled cookie crust.
Bake until center is set, 20 minutes. Remove and let cool 15 minutes before adding sour cream topping.
Meanwhile, mix together sour cream, 1/4 cup sugar, and vanilla and spread over cooled cheesecake. Raise oven temperature to 475°F and after 3 minutes of preheating, put cheesecake back in to bake for 10 minutes.
If using a springform pan, let cool 10 minutes before running a knife along the edges. Refrigerate overnight. Release springform pan, slice, and serve. Enjoy!
