Philadelphia Cheesecake (9x 1.5 or 2 inch)

Make your crust and chill.

Put the widest pan you have inside your oven, under the shelf your cheesecake will be on and fill it with water. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Beat cream cheese and vanilla until smooth, then beat in remaining ingredients, 1/4 cup of the sugar at a time, and one egg at a time. Scrape the sides as needed.

Mix until very smooth and somewhat fluffy. If you are putting in a swirl, mix it with 1/2 of the batter in another bowl.

Pour cheesecake batter into the crust. If you made a swirl mixture, put dollops of it on top, then run a knife through to swirl it.

Put your pan on top of a baking sheet.

Put the cheesecake on the oven shelf above the water. Bake 45-55 minutes or until it is set across the top and very lightly browned. It will still wobble, don't worry about it.

Cool completely. If you find that your crust is leaking butter, set the pie on a paper towel; once you've chilled the cake, this will stop.

Refrigerate in the pan, covered with plastic wrap.

Optional:
Soften an 8 ounce package of cream cheese and 2 ounces of butter. Beat with 1/4 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice until smooth.

Beat in 2 cups of powdered sugar a little at a time, then add an additional tablespoon at a time until you are happy with the sweetness. Whip until nice and fluffy. Use an offset spatula to smooth it over the cake. Return the cake to the refrigerator.

After it has chilled for several hours at a minimum, set the pan on a tall cup. Gently work your way around it and pop the sides free, then slide the outside down. Move the cake on the base to more stable surface. Moving quickly, lift the cake, remove the parchment, and place the cake on a serving platter.

Top as desired when serving.

Let the pan of water cool completely before you try to remove it.

Individual cheesecakes (sous vide):
15-18 servings (depending on whether you add a swirl of filling)

Set your immersion circulator for 160 F.

Mix the ingredients for a graham cracker crust (the recipe makes a lot of extra, so you can either scale it down or save the extra for later), but instead of forming a crust spread the crumbs out on a lined baking sheet and bake at 300 F. for 15 minutes. Cool and set aside.

Mix your cheesecake batter as above. Divide into 15-18 4-oz. jars, leaving 1/2 inch at the top, clean up the rims, and seal with metal lids and bands. Carefully lower the jars into your circulator (if you have a rack, use it.)

Cook for 1 hour.

Carefully remove to a cooling rack and let cool for about 1 hour before moving to the refrigerator. Chill completely before serving. They will be best if you leave them until the next day.

Serve with a sprinkling of your graham cracker crumble.

Store cheesecakes in the refrigerator and crumble in a sealed container at room temperature.

If you will be keeping the lids to use for this purpose again, store them separately from lids you will be canning with because they will not seal properly.