1. Preheat oven to 190 °C . Use the steel blade of the food processor; drop the zwieback cookies into the processor, one at a time, and process until fine. Add the sugar and cinnamon. Melt butter and pour in. Process 2 seconds or until crumbs are moistened. Reserve 3/4 cup of crumbs. Press the rest into bottom and sides of a buttered 25 cm springform pan. Bake 10 minutes. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Wash the food processor bowl.

2. Preheat oven to 175 °C . Cut the cheese into 30 g pieces. Process with steel blade until smooth. In another bowl, beat the eggs until stiff. Blend sugar into the egg whites and pour into processor bowl. Process with cream cheese until smooth. Add vanilla. Process for 2 seconds. Pour mixture into crust and bake for 25 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 250 °C . Mix together the sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Pour and spread over the top of cake. Sprinkle reserved crumbs to cover topping. Arrange slivered almonds over the crumbs. Bake for 7 minutes.

4. Refrigerate overnight. The next morning open the springform pan and knock off excess crust

Author's Notes: This is reputedly the 1980 A&S Cheesecake contest award winner. I have an nth generation copy of the recipe, but it "is" the best cheesecake I have tasted.

Enjoy.

Difficulty : moderate. Precision is required. Precision