Definitely looks and sounds creamy dreamy!👍🏻

I just might have to give this a try. Thanks.

Yum! Thanks for sharing the results of your research.

Is that a sour cream topping or does the filling settle like that or is it an optical illusion?

No sour cream. That's how the filling settles.

So, Ricky, I should admit that I don't like the kind of "cheesecake" that tastes like a block of Philly dunked in a bag of sugar. I do like the ricotta, eggs and flour kind, and have even made some, but it's not on the top of my must have list. That said, I kept thinking that your recipe sounded good. So. I acquired the needed quantities, though maybe not what was meant. Philly, naturally. One assumes the gum in it is an important ingredient, and I keep some on hand, along with the naturally prepared organic kind. I got Vermont Creamery mascarpone because it used to be my favorite, and the store had it. It's creamier than the stiffer it used to be. And I got Nancy's organic Greek yoghurt because they had plain in a 24 oz. container, which is big, rather than the giant ones. I was thinking you meant something more like Fage, which is also stiffer and it's tangier and sour-er. But I couldn't find any plain in any size, so I got the good stuff. :)

But, lo! That's not the only way I messed with your recipe. I hate modern graham crackers and am not moved to try to make my own. Since I have none and hate them, I just scrounged in the freezer and found a couple of "lemon cheesecake" bakery cookies and some Ritz crackers. I did try to apply the zest, but it was too damp and clumped. It's from my tree and I think maybe grocery store lemons are dryer. I would have put the zest on a plate to dry if I wanted to wait around a couple of days, but I just let the clumps fall as they may and didn't add more, assuming the lemony cookies will be enough. The cookies also taste noticeably, at least while still cold, of vanilla, so I was unsure of a whole tablespoon more, so substituted some very old Grand Marnier which is gone to sugar to a great extent and needs using up. I also started with half the sugar, to my own taste, then added another splash of the Grand Marnier, for both sweet and flavor. One glug was sufficient.

Of course, we'll have to find out what it's like tomorrow, but licking the spoon was sufficient to know it's flippin' delicious even if it's well off target for the copy you started off making.

Thank-you!

"they had plain in a two pound container rather than the giant ones." Yikes! How big are the giant ones?? 1 kg (2.2lb) is the largest size you can get here outside the catering industry.

My bad, Floral! Thanks for pointing it out. I've been really tired and missed it in proofreading. I've fixed it now. I meant to say ”double sized” but didn't pay attention to what I was actually writing (my fingers get their own ideas). The container is 24 oz. (1.5 lb.) The giant ones are two pound. There are supergiant ones that are double that, meant for big families and cooking, but they're mostly at stores aiming for that, and small time food service, but some regular stores have a few of them too. 12 and 16 oz. used to be most common, but now it's mostly single serving sized, except for plain (unflavored), which is usually giant. This is mostly about refrigerator space right after farm delivery, so the size was a big concern. I timed making the cheesecake for when there was room for it. ;)

Here, unless you're ordering from a catering supplier which from memory supplies 2kg blocks of cream cheese, in the groceries the biggest size is 250g, although you can get two packs plastic wrapped together to make a 500g pack.

Philly comes in 8oz. blocks, and a pound box has two. A lot of others kind of match because that's what people think cream cheese should look like, and it fits the recipe. My favorite cultured cream cheese (no gum) comes in a round container, but is still 8oz. So that's pretty similar, right? Quarter kilo to half pound? But yoghurt sizes are all over the map. Like 5.5oz., which I thought was a metric thing, but it's 156g, which seems equally random…

One who tasted the cheesecake really liked the Ritz-Cookie crust.

Ricky, it's a hit! Today, I heard, ”OMG!” and ”That's SO good!” and requests for the recipe.

To the ridiculous: The cheesecake is holding up really well in the pie safe, and there's still a bit left. The cream soft texture lends it to being used as a spread, like on my flatbread the other day. Today, it was dressing for a hardboiled egg, and really good together!