• Crust:
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 4 oz melted butter
• Mix ingredients together and press into the bottom of the springform pans. Bake for 15 minutes at 350. Set aside to cool.
• Filling:
• 4 pounds cream cheese, very soft (this is very important for avoiding lumps in your finished product)
• 3 cups sugar
• 4 lemons grated rind and juice
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 8 eggs

1. Cream sugar and cream cheese very well. Add lemon juice, zest and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time and beat well but not more than necessary. Beating too much after adding the eggs is what causes cheesecake to puff and fall, this makes the resulting cake dry instead of creamy. Divide filling between the two pans (wrap your springform pans in 2 layers of foil to prevent the water from the water bath from seeping in. Bake at 300 in a water bath (place your springform pans in a baking sheet and fill the sheet pan with water) for about one hour. Time will vary depending on your oven. You want to take it out when it is set but still jiggly in the middle. Do not wait until the edges brown or until the sides pull away from the pan, it will be overdone and dry.

Here's another recipe from my days as a restaurant pastry chef. Most of our desserts were very elaborate in their plating with several elements and an eye toward the dramatic and architectural. For our Sunday Brunch Buffets, we made more "homey" desserts. This cheesecake was one of two that our guests always demanded. Makes 2 cheesecakes.