Who doesn't love cheesecake?

 I was glancing through my recipe photos and saw my Red, White and Blue Cheesecake and thought, "man, that was soooo good." And being that Columbus day is right around the corner and everyone should be off work, this is the perfect time to make it. Warning: this is a really heavy cheesecake. Be prepared to go into a comatose state soon after indulging in a slice!!I got this recipe from my Taste of Home magazine. Yes, I have a subscription because they have some amazing dishes in there! A couple of things you need before making this are a microplane and a springform pan.

If you can't find a microplane, a grater will do, but you should seriously invest in one. Anyways, this dish is amazing and when you make it, everyone around you will worship the ground you walk on. Seriously, it's THAT Good. 

Prep: 40 mins. Bake 1 1/4 hours + chilling

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp grated lemon peel

3/4 cups COLD butter

2 egg yolks

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:

5 pkg (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup half-and-half cream

3 Tblsp all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp grated lemon peel

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs lightly beaten

1 egg yolk

1 cup crushed strawberries

1 cup crushed blueberries

assorted berries and mint for garnish (optional)

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and lemon peel. Cut in butter. Here's a tutorial on how to do that. Whisk egg yolks and vanilla; add to flour mixture, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball.

2. Press onto the bottom and 3 in. up the sides of a greased 9 in. springform pan. Place on baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 5-8 mins or until lightly browned. Cool on wire rack.

3. For filling, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the cream, flour, lemon peel, salt and vanilla. Add eggs and yolk; beat on low speed until just combined.

4. Divide batter in half. Fold crushed strawberries and blueberries into half the batter. Pour into the crust. Top with remaining batter. Return pan to baking sheet.

5. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 300° and bake 60-70 minutes longer or until center is almost set. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. remove sides of pan.

6. Garnish with assorted berries and fresh mint.

And this is how it should look! Yummmm! Hope you try this! let me know how it turns out. Have it with a cup of coffee, oooh that sounds great! See ya later alligators!