Cheesecake is the best cake of all

I love cheesecake. Because of that it never lasts long in my house, so I try not to make it often. Cheesecake has a reputation of being hard to make, but this recipe from Eagle Brand® is really easy. I would have taken my own picture but it disappeared too quickly.

I N G R E D I E N T S
1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
2 (1-ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
1 (14-ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 (21-ounce) can cherry pie filling, chilled


I N S T R U C T I O N S
Preheat oven to 300°.
Combine cookie crumbs with butter; press firmly on bottom of 9-inch spring form pan. In small saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate squares and sweetened condensed milk, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
In large mixer bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually add chocolate and condensed milk mixture until smooth. Add eggs, cornstarch, and almond extract; mix well. Pour into crust.
Bake 55 minutes or until center is set. Cool. Chill. Top with cherry pie filling before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

S H O R T C U T S & E X T R A S
Use a premade graham cracker crust. I happened to have a regular graham cracker crust, so I used that instead of a chocolate crust and it was just as tasty.

Use chocolate syrup instead of melting squares of chocolate. I just squirt a bunch in but if you like accuracy, 2-4 tablespoons should do it, depending on your love of chocolate.

Add chocolate chips. I added them to the mix but they sink to the bottom anyway, so save yourself some grief and just sprinkle them on the bottom of the pan before pouring in the mix.

Put a small oven-proof dish of water on the rack below the cheesecake. It helps keep it from drying out and getting cracks.