Cheesecake Mousse

Who doesn't love cheesecake?  It's one of my favorites.  The only thing I don't like about making cheesecake is how it cracks in the middle when it's cooling.  It just doesn't look very pretty when it's done and read to be served.  If you know how to prevent this, please let me know.  My solution in the meantime is to put something on top of it.  I'm not much of a fruit topping kind of gal, so I went with vanilla mousse and it was delicious.

Ingredients:

For cheesecake:
Graham crackers for crust
3 Tbsp butter, melted
4 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
3 eggs

Vanilla Mousse:
8 oz. whip cream (recipe for this is at the bottom of the page)
1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Heat oven to 325.  Crush graham crackers in a large zip lock bag.   Use as many graham crackers as it takes to get about 1 1/2 cups.  Mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter in a small bowl until it all sticks together.

Press graham cracker crumbs into your spring form pan, pressing firmly to the bottom and up the sides of the pan.  Put the pan in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

Beat 3 packages of the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until well blended.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended.  Pour over crust.  Bake for 55 minutes until center is almost set.  Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

This is my yummy cheesecake after it's baked.  I wish I knew why it cracks and how to stop it.  Big sigh... the benefit is that this vanilla mousse topping is truly yummy and doesn't distract from the cheese cake at all.

For the vanilla mousse, beat remaining cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla with mixer in a large mixer bowl until well blended.  Whisk in whipped cream, spread over the cheesecake.  Refrigerate for 4 hours.  Remove from of pan before serving and using a knife, smooth the sides of the cheesecake and the mousse topping to give it a finished look.

YUUUUUUMMMMMMMYYYYYYY

Whipped Cream:
1 cup of whipping cream
1/2 tsp to 1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp sugar

Add whipping cream to the bowl of your mixer.  Beat on medium - high with wire attachment until cream begins to thicken.  This process takes about 20 minutes.  Just let it ride while it's thickening.  Go put some laundry in, check your Facebook, whatever you like for 20 whole minutes.  Add vanilla to taste and add sugar.  Continue beating until it reaches the consistency of whipped cream.  This is probably the best whipped cream I have ever had and it has zero preservatives and zero additives.