Mom's No-Fail Cheesecake

This is the cheesecake recipe my mother has been making for years. Now that warmer weather is here and berry season is beginning, maybe she will make it again soon since it is always so much better topped with fresh strawberries and their juices. Blueberries and cherries are nice as well. This cheesecake recipe is a basic plain one. It is baked, and I find baked and no-bake cheesecakes do differ a slightly in texture, though both are good. This is a plain cheesecake - no added vanilla flavoring, sour cream, or anything fancy. Just a heavy dose of cream cheese. That's what makes it so good and easy. Like most baked cheesecakes, this one always risks the danger of cracking, though it usually doesn't and it can easily be masked with topping if necessary. My mother always bakes this cheesecake on a simple graham cracker crumb crust, which I think is really the go-to for cheesecakes. This basic cheesecake recipe could easily be vamped up into many different flavor combinations. For example, a chocolate crumb crust with chocolate sauce, a shortbread crust with whipped cream topping, or an oatmeal crust with a caramel apple topping. The possibilities are endless!