Creamy Cheesecake

(Thanks Poori for the picture. Poori, a cousin of mine took this picture after she made this cheesecake. Look how scrumptious it looks- and no cracks! On her very first try that to!)

I made my first cheesecake when I was in school. I read about a light and "fluffy as air" cheesecake in a novel and I couldn't get it out of my head. A couple trials later, I found a recipe I love! It has been a hit and I have been requested to make it time after time.

I'll include a couple variations I've tried below as well. This one is a Chocolate Swirled vanilla cheesecake

Crust:
12 oz reduced fat honey graham crackers
4 oz butter

Pulse the crackers in a food processor.
Melt the butter and pulse with the crushed cracker mix.
Press into the bottom of a greased 12" springform pan .
Place the crust in the preheated 350F oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden
Cool

3 packages Neufchâtel cream cheese (a reduced fat version of regular cream cheese)
8 0z ricotta or mascarpone cheese
4 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 c sour cream
1/4 c flour
4 tbsp dark cocoa powder
1 c cane sugar
1 tbsp good vanilla extract

In a food processor, mix the cream cheese, milk and eggs until smooth.
Add the flour, sour cream, vanilla and sugar one by one, process until smooth and creamy
Divide the mixture into 2 halves
Mix the cocoa powder into one half of the filling

Take the cooled crust and pour 1/3rd of the vanilla mixture into the crust, wait until it spreads
Pour 1/3rd of the chocolate mixture into the center of the crust over the vanilla
Repeat with the vanilla and chocolate until you end with the chocolate mixture in the center of the cake.

Pour some hot water into a large roasting pan and place in the bottom rack of the over. Set another rack right on top of it. Set the cheesecake on this rack.
Bake for 40 minutes to an hour. (Knock the side of the pan and if the cake doesnt jiggle too much, you're done)
Cool to room temperature and then chill for 6-8 hours.

Variations:
Make a chocolate crust by adding some melted chocolate to the crust recipe
Make a plain vanilla cheesecake (omit the cocoa powder) but add the zest of one lemon and 2 tbsps of brandy or grand marnier during the processing stage.

Top the plain vanilla cheesecake with:
Lemon basil syrup (Combine the juice of 2 lemons with 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar over low heat until mixture is syrupy. Mince a couple of basil leaves and add it to the syrup. Cool and top the cheesecake with this mixture)

Fruit topping (Combine 1 cup of frozen fruit with 1/2 cup of honey. Pour this over the cheesecake before serving)

Mango Cheesecake:
Substitute the milk and sour cream in the recipe for 2 cups of mango puree. The lemon basil syrup goes well with this cake!