Crab Cheesecake

This cake is a versatile dish. Serve it warm for brunch to six people. When cold, serve it with crackers as a canape to 12 or more.

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 cup crushed Ritz crackers
• 3 tablespoons melted butter

Filling

• 16 ounces cream cheese
• 3 medium eggs
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons grated onion
• 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• 1 drop Tabasco sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup backfin crab meat
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Instructions

1. Make cracker crust to line bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.
2. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F.
3. Set aside to cool.
4. Set oven to 325 degrees F.
5. Use electric mixer to beat cream cheese, eggs and sour cream until fluffy.
6. Add lemon juice, grated onion, Old Bay seasoning, Tabasco sauce and black pepper.
7. Stir in 1 cup backfin crab meat. Pick it over well, shredding it while removing the shell. Mix well.
8. Pour into cooled crust.
9. Bake for 50 minutes at 325 degrees F until cake is set.
10. Remove from oven. Run knife around edge of cake, loosening it from side of pan. Cool on wire rack.
11. Remove sides of pan.
12. Spread the cake with 1/2 cup sour cream.

Notes

This recipe is credited to Phyllis Murphy of Cambridge, Maryland, and was the Grand Prize Winner in the 1985 National Hard Crab Derby in Crisfield, Maryland.