When I first put a bite of this cheesecake into my mouth, I was totally won over. Remember how I was raving about the awesome cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory I had when I was in States, this one has 80% resemblance to it!The texture is light and fluffy...surprising huh? I guess it has got to do with beating the cream cheese excessively according to the recipe's instructions. I'm not really a New York Cheesecake fan, so...WOW. I'm so happy that I've made this hahahah!
P.S. 3 of my friends asked me if the specks are black pepper? EPIC FAIL.
Tall and Creamy Cheesecake (adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours)Ingredients:
For the crust:
175g graham cracker crumbs (I use digestive biscuits)
3 tbsps sugar (I use 1 tbsp)
Pinch of salt
56.5g unsalted butter, melted
For the cheesecake:
900g cream cheese, at room temperature
266g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsps pure vanilla extract
(I also top it off with 2 vanilla pods)
4 large eggs, at room temperature
320ml sour cream or heavy cream, or a combination of the two (I use heavy cream)
Method:
To make the crust:
1. Butter a 9-inch springform pan—choose one that has sides that are 2 3/4 inches high (if the sides are lower, you will have cheesecake batter leftover)—and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil; put the pan on a baking sheet.
2. Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. (I do this with my fingers.) Turn the ingredients into the buttered springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Don't worry if the sides are not perfectly even or if the crumbs reach above or below the midway mark on the sides—this doesn't have to be a precision job. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven.
3. Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 180°C and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.
4. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C.
To make the cheesecake:
1. Put a kettle of water on to boil.
2. Working in a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is soft and lives up to the creamy part of its name, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition—you want a well-aerated batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.
3. Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in the roaster pan.
4. Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure that nothing has been left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape the batter into the springform pan. The batter will reach the brim of the pan. (If you have a pan with lower sides and have leftover batter, you can bake the batter in a buttered ramekin or small soufflé mold.) Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
5. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top will be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven's heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.
6. After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster—be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminum foil—remove the foil. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.
7. When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and chill the cake for at least 4 hours, although overnight would be better.
8. At serving time, remove the sides of the springform pan - I use a hairdryer to do this - and set the cake on a serving platter.
1. Butter a 9-inch springform pan—choose one that has sides that are 2 3/4 inches high (if the sides are lower, you will have cheesecake batter leftover)—and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil; put the pan on a baking sheet.
2. Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. (I do this with my fingers.) Turn the ingredients into the buttered springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Don't worry if the sides are not perfectly even or if the crumbs reach above or below the midway mark on the sides—this doesn't have to be a precision job. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven.
3. Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 180°C and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.
4. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C.
To make the cheesecake:
1. Put a kettle of water on to boil.
2. Working in a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is soft and lives up to the creamy part of its name, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition—you want a well-aerated batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.
3. Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in the roaster pan.
4. Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure that nothing has been left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape the batter into the springform pan. The batter will reach the brim of the pan. (If you have a pan with lower sides and have leftover batter, you can bake the batter in a buttered ramekin or small soufflé mold.) Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
5. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top will be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven's heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.
6. After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster—be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminum foil—remove the foil. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.
7. When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and chill the cake for at least 4 hours, although overnight would be better.
8. At serving time, remove the sides of the springform pan - I use a hairdryer to do this - and set the cake on a serving platter.
Wow this doesn't look like a baked cheesecake. Wait till I loose some fats before I attempt this.
ReplyDeletewow......thats so yummy looking.....
ReplyDeletesheer decadence!! i can just tell how fluffy and delicious each bite is...i think we have similar tastes as im no fan of the NY style cheesecake too :)
ReplyDeletebookmarked!
HAHA..this looks so much like those sitting in the cafe fridge!
ReplyDeleteI've never had such tall cheesecake b4! I think yours is really inviting! I've got a party at my house next month..Hmm..maybe I can try this ya!
Very nicely baked cheesecake! Your temperature control must be really good since there's no cracks and the color tone is even. I got that before too...people asking me what is that black black specs in the bake....I think I once told them black pepper, lol!
ReplyDeleteJean, I remember the cheese cake from Cheese Cake Factory in the states. I love, love, love it!! Yours is 80% resembling it?? I WANT!!
ReplyDeletewow! this is a vanilla fiesta! vanilla extract topped wth 2 vanilla pods! indulgence can sometimes be a good thing too yeah? lol
ReplyDeleteNigella has a similar cheesecake to this. cream cheese and sourcream. it produces a very creamy cheesecake... yum yum!
ReplyDeletethis look so tall and beautiful! (: (:
ReplyDeletei would think this is outstanding!! i would like to give this a try too one day but i'm nervouslah baking cheesecake! you mean using hairdryer can ease the removing part from the tin?
ReplyDeleteDelicious cheesecake. I missed those lovely cheesecakes from Cheesecake Factory in the US too.
ReplyDelete