The infamous girls camp cheesecake

You may recall I was quite smitten with this cheesecake my bishop's wife brought for dessert one night at girls camp last summer. I got the recipe from her and have been meaning to make it for a long time. At the time I remembered thinking it was the best cheesecake I had ever eaten and I couldn't wait to eat it again. I kept putting it off because I was afraid if I made it for just my family, I would end up eating WAY too much of it on my own, gaining 15 pounds in a week, and giving birth to a 20-pound baby. Well last weekend my sister invited my cousin's family and our family over for dinner and I figured it was as good of an opportunity as any to try it.

I was not disappointed. It turned out awesome and tasted just as good as I remembered. I figure a recipe this good must be shared! It may seem like a lot of steps, but it is worth it, I promise. If you are a cheesecake fan, make this!

Vanilla bean cheesecake:

Ingredients

1/2 cups finely crushed graham crackers

11/4 cups sugar, divided

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup butter, softened

1 egg yolk, beaten

3/4 teaspoon vanilla, divided

16 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons cornstarch (or 3 T flour)

2 vanilla pods, beans removed, divided

2 cups whipping cream

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

4 ounces one-third less fat reduced-fat cream cheese, softened

4 ounces white chocolate baking squares, melted and cooled to room temperature

Directions

1. Line a 9-inch springform pan with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.

2. Mix the graham crackers with 1/4 C sugar.

3. Add the egg yolk, 1/4 t. vanilla, and melted butter, in that order.

4. Press mixture into the bottom of the pan, and bake for 8 minutes (or until edges are slightly brown). Remove and let cool.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

6. Combine cream cheese, sour cream, cornstarch, and 1 C sugar, mixing until sugar dissolves. Add butter, 1/2 t vanilla, and beans from one vanilla pod, blend until smooth. Spread on crust.

7. Bake 30-35 minutes, cool 1 hour. (I baked mine an extra 5-8 minutes because I could tell it was still not firm enough. You do still want it to jiggle when you take it out though because it will set as it cools.)

8. In a cold mixing bowl, beat 1 C cream until soft peaks form. Add 2 T powdered sugar, and continue beating. Place in another bowl in fridge. Without washing first bowl, beat the 1/3 less fat cream cheese in it, until fluffy. Add the white chocolate, and beat until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream from fridge (I ended up having to beat the whipped cream in to make it smooth); place back in fridge.

9. In another cold bowl, beat 1 C whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add 1 T powdered sugar, and beans from one vanilla pod beating until stiff peaks form.

10. Spread mousse evenly on top (cream cheese/white chocolate mixture). Refrigerate for an hour, then spread whipped cream on top. Refrigerate several hours before serving. Optional: shave white chocolate over the top just before serving.