Mema’s Blueberry Cheesecake

I think there’s some kind of unspoken rule amongst Grandmas that you must always have something delicious baking in the oven.

I’ve always loved the fact that 99% of the time Mema has some sort of homemade dessert on her counter. It may be a caramel layer cake, a pound cake or a freshly made banana pudding, but when blueberry season arrives there’s one thing that is sure to be cooking at Mema’s house… her delicious Blueberry Cheesecake.

Just walk into her house this time of year and there’s a pretty good chance the tangy, sweet smell of cream cheese will be lingering in the air. Just walk past the oven and you will smell the golden graham cracker crust beginning to bake.

Smelling the cake as it cools is pure torture. I’m not sure if any of her cream cheese cakes has ever completely cooled before we dived into it. It has the creamiest blueberry filling hidden under a silky sour cream topping. Absolutely divine.

Photos by {Blue Eyed Yonder}

Mema’s Blueberry Cheesecake
adapted from Southern Living Magazine 2003

What you will need:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp. butter, melted
1 tbsp. sugar
vegetable cooking spray
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
2 egg whites
1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. grated lemon rind
1 1/2 cups fresh bluberries
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/4 cup sour cream

Combine graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and 1 tablespoon sugar in a small bowl. Press mixture on bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 350-degrees for 5 minutes. Remove from oven; set aside.

Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.

Combine 1 cup sugar, flour and salt. Add to cream cheese, beating until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add egg whites, beating until blended.

Add 8-ounce container of sour cream, vanilla and lemon rind, beating just until blended. Gently stir in blueberries. Pour mixture into prepared pan.

Bake at 300-degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until center of cheesecake is firm. Turn off oven, and let cheesecake stand in oven, with oven door partially open, 30 minutes.

Remove cheesecake from oven; cool in pan on a wire rack 30 minutes.

Cover cheesecake, and chill 8 hours. Release sides of pan.

Stir together whipped topping and 1/4 cup sour cream. Spread over cheesecake.

Posted 7/1/11, Topic: Eats