Happy 4th of July!

Happy Independence Day everyone!

Today we are going to a BBQ with some friends and I made a special 4th of July cheesecake for the occasion. I used a cheesecake recipe from my Grandma Walton, and it is the BEST! And thank you Martha Stewart, for inspiring the decor.

A couple people have asked for the recipe, so here it is:

Ingredients:

Crust

1 1/2 Cup Graham Crackers (Crushed)

3 T. Sugar

1/3 Cup Butter

Filling

11 oz. Cream Cheese

3/4 Cup Sugar

2 eggs

Topping:

1 Cup Sour Cream

3 T. Sugar

1/2 t. Vanilla

4th of July Toppings:

Raspberries

Blueberries

Vanilla Frosting

Directions:

1. Combine the crust ingredients and press into pan. I normally use a round pie tin pan, but for this particular one I did a rectangular pan and doubled the recipe. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

2. Beat cream cheese until smooth, then add the sugar, add one egg, and then the other egg. (and if you doubled it add another egg, and then the last egg). Once smooth pour over the crust and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes after it is done baking.

3. Mix the sour cream, sugar and vanilla. (I usually double this, even if I did not double the rest of the recipe... so if you did double the recipe I would maybe triple this part... it is the best part in my opinion.) Carefully, very carefully, pour this over the rest of the cheesecake and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

4. Let cool and then refrigerate. I usually let it cool and set overnight.

5. Arrange blueberries in the top left corner and the raspberries in stripes. Then pipe the frosting however you want to make stripes and stars.

I have never done this cheesecake before with fruit/frosting topping. I liked the fruit, but wasn't a big fan of the frosting- it detracted from the cheesecake in my opinion. Normally, I serve the cheesecake plain with optional homemade berry sauce.

I hope you enjoy, this was my Grandma's recipe (minus the 4th of July additions) and is a family favorite!