[Xantar]

So I found a cheesecake recipe that some people I trust swear by. I can't attest to it myself because I'm lactose intolerant and thus don't bake cheesecake.

You will need a food processor or mixer, a 10 inch springform pan, and a large oven safe container of some sort which is big enough to place the springform pan inside.

Crust:
1/4 pound (1 stick) butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar

Batter:
2 pounds (4 packages) cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
Pinch of salt

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees. It is very important for your oven temperature to be correct, so consider using an oven thermometer.

Line the outside of your springform pan with tinfoil (this will make sense later).

To make the crust:

Melt the butter. Combine it with the crumbs and sugar. You can do that in a food processor or just mash stuff together in a large bowl with a fork. Press into the bottom of your pan.

To make the filling:

Whip the cream cheese at high speed until it's silky smooth (about 5 minutes). Add sugar and whip for another 2 minutes. Add the pinch of salt. While mixing at low speed, add the eggs one at a time until they are just incorporated.

Pour batter into pan with the crust. Place the pan in the larger container and then fill that container with water about halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake for 50 minutes. You know you're done when the sides of the cake are set but the center still jiggles a little if you shake the pan. Turn oven off and let the cake sit inside for 10 minutes. Then put the cake in the refrigerator.

Before trying to remove from the pan, let the cake stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Now here's the thing about cheesecake: once you have this recipe down, you can easily modify it with whatever flavors you please. To make chocolate cheesecake, add 4 ounces of melted chocolate and maybe some chocolate chips to the batter and bake the same way. To make key lime cheesecake, squeeze in the juice of one lime. You can add a mashed banana and a tablespoon of rum. Or throw in some mashed pears with a tablespoon of cinnamon and replace half of the sugar with brown sugar. Whatever you think would taste good probably won't turn out badly.