EASY BUT ELEGANT CHEESE PIE

I have always wondered why cheesecake is called cheesecake and not cheese pie. I wondered even more when I found this and a couple of more recipes in my Kitchen Klatter cookbook I bought last Friday at an estate sale for "Cheese Pie". 

When I asked my quilting canasta friends yesterday afternoon when they gathered at my house for cards, if they knew why, Friend Dorothy said she had never heard of cheese pie. Friend Sharon agreed with me that it seems like it should be called cheese pie. 

I decided I would do some research and see if I could find an explanation. The closest thing I came to was at Wikipedia. "The early Greeks considered it a cake. Some modern authors point to the presence of many eggs, the sole source of leavening, as proof that it is a torte. Still others claim that the separate crust, the soft filling, and the absence of flour prove that it is a custard pie." The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Berenbaum.

I decided to make the pie Wednesday afternoon so I wouldn't be rushed Thursday morning and besides I wanted it to be cold. I'm not sure but I think there was a typo in the recipe. On the same page was another recipe called Scrumptious Cheese Pie that was basically the same recipe for the pie portion except that it used one more egg and added 1/3 cup milk. It baked for 40 minutes. The one I was going to make said to bake for 20 minutes. I set the timer on my stove for the 20 minutes, but when I started to remove it from the oven, only the outer edge was baked; the rest of the pie shook like really soft jello. I ended up baking it for 35 minutes and it was perfect and as the title suggest - was so easy. (The ladies loved it!)

Except for changing the baking time to 35 minutes, the directions are those in the Kitchen Klatter cookbook.

EASY BUT ELEGANT CHEESE PIE

2       eggs
1        8 - ounce package cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat (Neufchatel) cheese
1/2    cup sugar
1        teaspoon vanilla extract
1        crumb crust (9-inch)
1        cup commercial sour cream (I use light sour cream)
2       teaspoons sugar
1/2    teaspoon vanilla flavoring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat eggs and add the cream cheese (don't even think about starting this unless that cheese is at room temperature), 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. When thoroughly mixed, turn into the crumb crust and bake for 35 minutes (see my notes above the recipe). Remove and cool. 

Mix together the sour cream, 2 teaspoons sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and spread this on top of the cooled pie. Return to a 350 degree F oven and bake for 5 minutes. Cool and refrigerate. Could it be any easier?

I beat the eggs in a separate bowl.

To make sure the cream cheese was going to be soft enough, I beat it first in the mixing bowl.

Then I added the other ingredients and

beat til smooth.

Poured the mixture into the crust.

I baked it for 35 minutes and then let it cool on a wire rack. (We ate dinner while it cooled.)

I mixed the ingredients for the sour cream topping in a medium sized bowl.

That was easy to do.

Then I spread it on top of the cheese pie. It made a nice topping.

I inverted the lid that comes on the crumb crust and covered the pie and put it in the refrigerator. I served it the next afternoon. I just love when the piece of pie comes out so cleanly when you are serving it to friends and really want to make a good impression.