Shelly's Recipe

VANILLA MOUSSE CHEESECAKE

Category: Cheesecake

40 vanilla wafers, crushed (about 1-1/2 cups)
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
4 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened, divided
1 cup sugar, divided
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. vanilla, divided
3 eggs
1 tub (8 oz.) whipped topping, thawed

Heat oven to 325. Mix wafer crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

Beat 3 pkg. cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp. vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust. Bake 50 to 55 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool completely in pan.

Bake remaining cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with mixer in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in whipped topping and spread over cheesecake. Refrigerate 4 hours. Remove rim of pan before serving cheesecake. Garnish with fresh berries just before serving. Yield: 16 servings.

Vanilla Bean Mousse Cheesecake: Prepare recipe as directed, using a vanilla bean and reducing vanilla extract to 2 tsp. Use sharp knife to gently split 1 vanilla bean pod lengthwise in half, then scrape seeds into cheesecake batter. Add 1 tsp. vanilla extract to the batter and use remaining extract to flavor cheesecake topping as directed.