Front-Row-Center Vanilla Mousse Cheesecake

Cheesecake is one of the hubby's favorite desserts. Over the course of our one-year-and-counting marriage I've tried to attempt his very favorite foods and so far I've tackled chicken alfredo, chicken fried rice, and ribs (in order of easiest to most difficult). Until recently I hadn't been brave enough to tackle his favorite dessert: cheesecake.

Why?

Well, funny you should ask. Way back in December 2006, when our relationship was in its tender first-month-getting-to-know-each-other-while-feeling-a-little-awkward-to-be-newly-dating-stage, my now sister-in-law and I decided to take a trip to visit Nick and Sean and their family in Bluffton for a weekend over Christmas break. Maria and I'd both only met Nick's family once or twice before that at a tailgate, so we were a little nervous about spending the whole weekend with them. Would they like us? Would they approve of us dating their sons? I decided that to show our appreciation of them letting us crash their house for a weekend and to prove that I'd be a valuable asset to Nick and the Crandalls as his girlfriend, I'd bake something for everyone to enjoy during our time there. So Maria and I headed to the store and settled on Nestle Tollhouse refrigerated fudge pull-apart-brownie dough with Christmas sprinkles. We even got a Christmas tin to put them in as a nice touch.

We baked those babies to perfection and headed down to Bluffton with our Christmas tin of brownies, looking forward to how impressed Nick's mom would be at our thoughtfulness and excited to see everyone enjoying our brownies all weekend. We got there and our brownies were received with a "thanks girls...yall are so sweet" and were promptly placed on the top of the fridge...where they stayed the entire rest of the weekend. The air was completely let out of our balloons. As it turns out, my mom-in-law Marcy is absolutely famous for her homemade brownies, so for the rest of the weekend I'd hear from Nick, "hey Lyndsey, I'm going to get a brownie...my mom's brownies are so good!!" which would be followed by Nick skipping in to the kitchen, pushing our brownies aside to reach Marcy's, and scarfing one down with a smile (at least that's how it seemed).

We still joke about it with them and the family, and Nick and Sean have come to find out that it's polite to compliment your significant other's attempts in the kitchen, no matter how good or bad...or how much worse than your mom's ;).

Ever since then, I've been a little weary about making anything that falls under the "my mom makes it best" umbrella...until recently! Nick's mom makes amazing cheesecake. Seriously. Nick's fave is her caramel praline cheesecake, and he requests that she make it for every major holiday or event celebrating him (including our rehearsal dinner). So when I saw a recipe for vanilla mousse cheesecake in a magazine, I knew it'd be the perfect dessert to try for the one-year-anniversary dinner I was going to make for him, but I was a little concerned it would turn out just like the Brownie Debacle of 2006. I made it and nervously cut Nick a piece for him to try, terrified I'd hear a phrase like "not quite...." or "you'll learn....", but to my surprise, Nick loved the cheesecake. While Marcy's recipes will always be well-received by the hubs' (and my) appetites, I'm glad to know mine have a place in his heart too :)

I'm happy to report that my cheesecake did not get banished to the back of the refrigerator! And really, I should get no credit for the deliciousness of this cheesecake. It's so easy to make, there's almost no way it could come out badly...

So here's the recipe for my Front-Row-Center Vanilla Mousse Cheesecake:

Ingredients:

For the cheesecake:
40 vanilla wafers, crushed (about 1.5 cups)
3 tbsp. butter, melted
3 pkg cream cheese, softened (8 oz. each)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla
3 eggs

For the mousse:
1 pkg cream cheese (8 oz.)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
8 oz. whipped topping, thawed

Heat oven to 325. Mix wafer crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 9-in springform pan.
Beat 3 pkg. cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 tbsp vanilla with mixer until well blended.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each until just 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.
Beat 1 pkg. cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 tsp. vanilla in large bowl until well blended.
Whisk in whipped topping; spread over cheesecake.
Refrigerate 4 hours. Remove rim of pan before serving cheesecake.
Garnish with fresh berries if your heart so desires.

Enjoy!