Milnot Cheesecake Cheesecake

Notes: This recipe can be divided up and prepared over several days. You can make the cheesecake one day and chill it overnight, then make and add the Milnot cheesecake topping the next day, and serve on day three!

Make the cheesecake:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a springform cheesecake pan.

Combine the cookie crumbs and melted butter in a small bowl. Toss with a fork to moisten all of the crumbs. Using a flat-sided glass, press the crumb mixture into an even layer covering the bottom and sides of your cheesecake pan (you want it to be tall so try to get to about 2.5-3 inches up the side of the pan—and a little thicker than for your usual cheesecake—maybe 1/4 inch thick so it won’t crumble). Bake the crust for about 6 minutes and then remove it from the oven and let it cool as you make your cheesecake filling.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium-high speed until well blended. Beat in the flour. Add in the vanilla and beat until well incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between each addition. Pour the filling into your crust.

Bake until the top is lightly browned, puffed and cracked at the edges, and the center moves only very slightly when the pan is lightly shaken (about 40 minutes). Check periodically while baking and put a pie shield (or strips of foil) around the top of your pan to protect the crust edges if they’re getting too dark. Just don’t let the shield/foil touch the crust—it’s delicate and might crumble.

When you pull the cheesecake out of the oven, you can use a sharp knife to score a circle around the top of the cheesecake about an inch inside the crust so that as it cools and chills/sinks, it won’t pull the crust in too much. Don’t worry if the circle you cut isn’t pretty, because you won’t be able to see it in the finished product! Let cheesecake cool completely on a wire rack before chilling it in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Make the Milnot Cheesecake Topping:
Chill a large bowl and beater in the freezer for a few minutes as you start the filling.

Put the Jello mix in a small bowl and add the boiling water. Stir to dissolve the Jello mix in the boiling water and then chill it in the refrigerator until slightly thickened, about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, cream the cream cheese, sugar, food coloring, and vanilla in a large bowl (not the chilled one). Beat the chilled Jell-o into the cream cheese mixture until completely combined and smooth.

In the large chilled bowl, whip the chilled Milnot with a chilled beater until it forms stiff peaks. Stir about 1/3 of the Milnot mixture into the cream cheese mixture to lighten it up. Then gently fold the rest of the whipped Milnot in until the mixture is uniform in color and completely combined. Pour Milnot filling evenly onto your cheesecake (you will use most of it but not quite all—pour the remainder into a separate dish and cover with graham cracker crumbs. Chill it to make a separate “individual” cheesecake dessert!).

Garnish your cheesecake with graham cracker crumbs. Chill the cake for 8 hours. Keep refrigerated and serve chilled.

Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking, using an age-old recipe for Milnot Cheesecake found on Recipes for Laughter.

Yield: serves 8-10