New York-Style Cheesecake

Yes really, I am updating this blog! I've been doing a lot of baking for Mother's Day weekend, but his is the first time I've ever made cheesecake. With flour-covered fingers, I photographed the process to make it easier to follow. There are two parts: the crust and the filling. Let's start with the crust because it needs to chill before the filling is added. Note: several hours before starting, I left three packages of 8 ounce regular cream cheese (I have a friend that swears by the Philadelphia brand) and one stick of unsalted butter out to soften.

You may want to melt the unsalted butter if it isn't soft enough. I put mine in the microwave for about 15 seconds to save myself some difficulty of mixing it in. Other than that, the crust is extremely easy to prepare and only consists of three ingredients: 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs, 2 tablespoons of granulated white sugar, and your one stick of unsalted butter. Wisk the dry ingredients together, then add your melted butter.


Before melting the butter


and after!



That's it! The crust is done! Refrigerate to allow butter to cool while preparing the filling. Using your mixing bowl, empty the three packages (or somehow your 24 ounces of cream cheese), then add one tablespoon of all-purpose flour and one cup of granulated sugar.


These are three squishy sticks of cheese with no sugar or flour yet

I used my stand mixer again but this time with the wire wisk. My fear was that everything would get stuck inside the wisk and be a horrible disaster.



That is exactly what happened (at first)! It worked out wonderfully though, because as the stand mixer worked its culinary magic, it softened nicely and became very fluffy.



Next add one teaspoon of pure vanilla extract and one tablespoon of heavy whipping cream. I just happened to have the cream handy from making so much homemade vanilla ice cream for the kids this semester. It's great to have another use for that stuff!

The next step is to beat in four whole eggs, one a time, until fully incorporated. If using an electric mixer, I'd suggest mixing for about 30 seconds each. Afterward, the mixture became very liquidy.



Pour the filling into your chilled crust and preheat your oven to 350˚



Bake at 350˚ for 15 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 250˚ and continue baking for an additional 60 to 70 minutes. When it is done, the center will be wiggly but the edges should be firm.



Allow to cool at room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Since I didn't allow mine to cool first, or remove my cake from the spring form pan side before putting it in the fridge, there is a good chance it will crack (the dreaded cheesecake dilemma) but I'll keep you updated on the taste when it's ready tomorrow!

Update: The cheesecake is perfect! It didn't crack at all and tastes completely delicious, although I would want to try a more exciting flavor next time.


Perfect!


Maybe raspberry cheesecake next?