Lime Almond Cheesecake

I used to work in the fashion industry for a brief period of time selling different clothing lines in the Midwest states, the job was not as glamorous as it seems but my wardrobe was wonderful.  A lot nicer that it will ever be since quite frankly I am not really a clothes horse.  Once I did a trunk show in Rockford Illinois.  A trunk show happens when the designer brings in the entire seasons clothing line to the store so the clients can choose what they want other then depending on the store buyer and their taste.  They try on the clothes, drink and eat, spend money  and go home empty handed since the clothes will most likely not be delivered till a couple of months later.  As you may have seen somewhere in that sentence there is food involved and in this particular instance the food was Lime Almond Cheesecake.  It is so divine that there was no way I was willing to leave the store without a recipe.  Crunch almond crust, creamy cheesecake and light sour cream topping.  To die for !!

You will need for the crust: 7oz unbleached almonds, 1/2 stick of  unsalted butter, 1/4 cup sugar

For the cheesecake filling: 2lb cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar,1 1/2 tbs fresh lime juice, 4 large eggs

For the sour cream topping: 16oz sour cream, 1/4 cup sugar, 1tbs lime juice, 1 tsp almond extract

Put the almonds in the cusinart

mix until they resemble bread crumbs

mix with 1/4 cup sugar

pour 1/2 stick of butter over the nuts

mix an press evenly into the pan, set aside

For the cheesecake preheat the oven to 375 degrees, blend the soften (room temp) cream cheese and 1/2 cup of sugar together

Squeeze fresh lime juice, usually one lime juice is enough for the recipe but depending on limes I always buy 2 just in case

add 1 1/2 tbs of lime juice to the cheese mixture

Continue adding one egg at a time until well blended

pour the mixture into the pan, don’t worry about making it too even

Place in a preheated oven for 40-45 minutes

or until golden brown.  As you can tell the cheesecake will be overflowing from the cake pan and you will how to continue to the next step.  Now take the sour cream out and wait for the cake to cool at least 20 min

By the time it cools it may show some  age marks, some cracks or wrinkles no worries a load of sour cream will help with everything

To the room temperature sour cream add sugar

1 tbs of fresh lime juice

and 1 tsp of almond extract

mix well and spread evenly on top of the cheesecake

place back in the oven for 10 minutes.

Now this is the hardest part: place in the refrigerator for 8 hours and grow a backbone.  After about 20 minutes you will hear “oh a cheesecake is it ready”, 10 minutes later from another member “can I have some?”.  I am sure it is best to make really really late at night when everyone else is sleeping and will be pleasantly surprised for breakfast.  We have on occasion have not waited the needed time, because we just couldn’t ok, it was too hard.  The cheesecake tasted the same but the consistency of the cheesy part was more creamy like cream cheese and less velvety (or whipped) like the real deal.  But don’t take my word for it you can always try a slice earlier and one later, if there is any left that is.