Coffee & Cream Cheesecake

Let's talk about cheesecake for a minute. Who do you think first thought to mix a bunch of cream cheese up and bake it? Yeah, I was curious too. Checked wikipedia (of course) and it mentioned that perhaps the greeks came up with a form of it. Whoa, cool. Cato the Elder was into cheesecake? Awesome.Coffee & Cream Cheesecake

1 1/2 cup crushed vanilla wafers
4 tablespoon melted butter
3 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons strong coffee or espresso
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup powered sugar

*Even though this has coffee and espresso powder, the coffee flavor is still quite subtle. You may like that. If you want to bump up the flavor add a little more espresso powder.First crush the vanilla wafers. You can do this in a food processor or in a ziplock bag and a book. 🙂 Stir together the crushed wafers and melted butter. Press into your prepared backing dish. Bake for 6-8 minutes at 350°F.First whip the softened cream cheese until almost fluffy. The less lumps the better. Now add the eggs one at a time, mixing in between. Then add the sugar, vanilla extract, espresso powder and coffee. Blend until well combined. Pour over the baked crust. Bake at 350°F for 50 minutes to 1 hour (the cake should still jiggle in the middle a little). Turn off the oven and allow the cheese cake to sit in the oven for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.Once your cake has cooled, sprinkle on the almonds and powdered sugar. Enjoy! xo. Emma