When I made a New York style cheesecake the first time, I realized that it was super duper easy to make and it really impressed people. It is such a rich and creamy dessert…..so much so, that I wish I had some right now instead of blogging about one I made over a month ago. Dang, I can really go for some cheesecake right now….Doesn’t that look good…..
Not perfect, but tasty
Anyways, ignore my random cravings. Despite it being easy to make, there are a few things that take time to perfect. Like not over cooking it, under cooking it, or keeping the top from cracking. Whether these things happen or not, the cheesecake will still taste glorious, but I would still like to get it perfect. I still refuse to use flour in my cheese mixture to keep it from cracking though. And I need to train my eye to recognize the correct amount of jiggle the cheesecake needs to be done. But other than those, I think I have it down. No need to be scared.
Lessons Learned:
- Run knife round edge before letting cheesecake cool (Helps with cracking)
- If not completely cool when putting it into the fridge, put a paper towel under any wrapping to collect condensation. Otherwise you will get water spots on top of your cheesecake.
- Keep a close eye on it towards the end. It can go from lots a jiggle to no jiggle pretty quick.
- Don’t try to crumble the graham crackers in the package it comes in. Trust me, it’s not big enough or strong enough to last through the beating.
- definitely clean the bowl with your fingers! soooo yummy!
- 1¼ cup graham cracker crumbs
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 2½ lbs cream cheese, softened or at room temp
- 1½ cups sugar
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large egg yolks, at room temp
- 6 large eggs, at room temp
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- For the crust, put the graham crackers in a large zip lock bag and get all your frustrations out on it. Crush them in any way you can to get it as powdery as possible. Its okay if there are small chunks in there at the end. Add the sugar and melted butter. Mix together, then pour into the 9" springform pan. Use the bottom of a cup to press the graham cracker crust into an even layer at the bottom. Bake the crust for 10-15 minutes and cool before pouring in the filling. When crust is done baking, increase oven temperature to 500 degrees F.
- For the filling, add the cream cheese to a large bowl. Beat the cream cheese with a mixer on medium until softened (1-2 min.). Beat in half the sugar and salt until fulling incorporated. Then beat in the remaining sugar until fully incorporated.
- Beat in the sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla until fully incorporated.
- Beat in the egg yolks until fully incorporated. Then beat in the eggs, 2 at a time, until fully incorporated each time.
- When everything is fully incorporated, pour the filling mixture into the springform pan with the cooled crust. Put into oven for 10 minutes at 500 degrees F. Then, without opening the oven door, decrease oven temperature to 200 degrees F. Continue to bake for about 1 hr and 30 minutes. When done, the center should still jiggle slightly but should not be liquid.
- Transfer to a wire wrack. Run a knife around the edge to detach it from the edge of the springform pan. Let cool completely (2-3 hrs). Wrap the pan in aluminum or plastic wrap and put in fridge to chill. Refrigerate at least 3-4 hrs.
- When ready to serve, remove from fridge and remove sides from springform pan. This makes it easier to cut. (side note: I once had someone take my cheesecake out by turning it upside down. Totally made me mad. I had to flip it back the right way!)
(from America’s Test Kitchen)
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