Kael Compton won best of show at the Benton County Fair with this cheesecake recipe. It’s easy to add toppings to change up the flavors: fresh fruits or preserves, crushed candy bars, chocolate shavings, crystallized ginger and more. Get creative!

Suggested wine pairing: Compton Pinot Gris – The richness of cheesecake is complemented by the hints of lemon, pear, peach and honey found in our Pinot Gris. 

Ingredients

Crust

  • 1 ½ cups of crushed graham crackers (Crush in Food processor) 
  • 4 tbsp of sugar 
  • ⅓ cup of melted butter 
  • Add sugar to the crushed crackers, mix in the butter press into the sides and bottom of  your springform pan 

Filling 

  • 3 (8oz) packages of cream cheese
  • 1 ½ cup of sugar
  • 4 eggs separated
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp vanilla 

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven 325
  2. Use electric mixer to blend well the cream cheese, sugar, egg yolks, lemon juice, vanilla 
  3. Beat Egg Whites & Fold in the egg whites
  4. Gently spoon the filling in the form pan
  5. Bake at 325 F degrees for 40 minutes 
  6. Leave in the over for an additional hour with the oven turned off. This is an important step to keep the cheesecake from cracking.  
  7. Move the cheesecake to the freezer for 6 hours, let defrost before serving.