Our love filled life: Banana Cream Cheesecake

On Saturday we celebrated my brother Matt's 24th birthday with a BBQ at Charles Daley Park. My sister-in-law Michelle and I decided to tackle his special request for a Banana Cream Cheesecake - and we were both amazed with how it turned out. I have to say I was a little nervous going into this challenge because I've never even heard of a Banana Cheesecake before, let alone make one for so many people to try! But we went into this task with confidence and thought we would give it a shot.

When everyone started taking the first bites off their plates - we knew we did good! It was so full of flavor and the consistency of this cake was smooth, creamy, and perfect. You could totally add sliced banana's to this as well but we just went with the old traditional dollop of whipped cream. Divine!

I will definitely be making this again. It was so easy to put together and it's actually the first cheesecake I've made that had a flawless surface without any cracks. Wooo! High 5 Michelle. Yay for things that turn out exactly how you want them! Just thought we would share this exciting new recipe with you all! Enjoy! This young lady is off to bed now. Night!

Banana Cream Cheesecake

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

¼ cup margarine, melted

24 oz cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

3 eggs

¾ cup mashed bananas (about 2)

½ cup whipping cream

2 tbsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place graham cracker crumbs into a bowl.

2. Add margarine and mix until you have the consistancy of wet sand.

3. Press crumb mixture onto bottom of 10" springform pan; refrigerate.

4. Beat cream cheese in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Add sugar and cornstarch; beat until blended.

5. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

6. Beat in bananas, whipping cream, and vanilla.

7. Pour cream cheese mixture into prepared crust. Place pan on cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 200°F (DO NOT forget to reduce temperature - very important) and continue baking 75 minutes or until center is almost set.