New York  Style Cheesecake is one of those foods that may truly be an American invention, or at least made famous by Americans. It’s also a sweet that is hard to mess up. I don’t consider myself a baker at all, but it seems to be something I dabble in more and more as my sweet tooth starts developing in tandem with my baking skills. Every year, I get stuck making the same cheesecake recipe for Christmas. I secretly don’t mind since it’s a leftover we like having around. Sliver after sliver, night after night, and poof - the entire 5lbs of cheesecake is gone. 

 

It has been a fallback desert of mine for years. Every year I make a New Year’s resolution to try baking different desserts. Maybe I can stick to it this year with the help of some new books I got, like Baked, which uses salty sweet methods for a few things. Coincidentally, their cheesecake recipe is the first I have seen that has a sour cream topping like the one my mom always made. Mine is a little different with the powdered sugar but it serves the same purpose.

 

 

Many cheesecakes later, I have landed on this recipe. I tend to like my cheesecake au naturel, literally meaning in the nude, or as is. All I mean is that i don’t need  or like added flavors like chocolate, pumpkin or chai tea.  This is no “factory” cheesecake. Why mess up a good thing? It’s so decadent on it’s own. Eggs,sugar, creamy cheese, the only added thing would be some kind of berry on top which adds a nice color and light flavor, much like pairing fruit with cheese platters.  At Christmas this year, I added Meyer lemon zest on the top as garnish. It was a lovely added taste as well.

 

 

 

Sometimes, I add pomegranate kernels to the top and had a pomegranate glaze from Trader Joe’s that I used to decorate the plates.  A note here-  the bottle the pomegranate glaze comes in does not have much control with the built-in spout.  I poured some in small, plastic dispensers i purchased from surfas in culver city.  They look like mini ketchup dispensers. I use them for honey and other thick syrups for decorating plates.

 

I remember helping my mom make cheesecake decades ago. We had to crush the graham crackers in a ziploc bag.  Now graham cracker crumbs conveniently come in boxes. Well, maybe they did before, but my mom never owned a Cuisinart either.  Imagine my joy at learning these were available pre-crushed and that something existed that could chop and grate large quantities.  The crust was always my favorite part, so now I double the recipe to get a crust almost 1 centimeter thick , which is reflected in my recipe here.

 

 

 

The springform pan can be used for many things other than cheesecakes.  It might be it’s most common usage but I have also used it to make a savory italian torte and other kinds of cakes as well.  When prepping the pan, be sure to grease it and dust it with flour.

 

Here’s a recipe I have adapted from the Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cheesecake recipe. I also add on a sour cream topping which helps mask any cracking or blemishes that will most likely occur during the setting process of sitting in the oven after it’s been turned off.

 

 

 

The Best New York Style Cheesecake

 

Equipment:

 

9″ springform pan

Electric Mixer

 

For Crust:

2 c graham cracker crumbs

1/3 c sugar

6 tbs butter, softened

 

For Filling:

5 - 8 oz- packages cream cheese, softened to room temp, takes at least an hour

(this is very important or it won’t mix properly)

1 c sugar

3 tbs flour

1 tbs vanilla extract

1 c sour cream

4 large eggs

 

Sour Cream Topping:

1 c sour cream

1 tbs vanilla extract

4 tbs powdered sugar

 

Garnish ideas:

Lemon or Meyer lemon zest

Orange slices

Pomegranate

Fresh cut berries

 

Preheat oven to 325˚ or 300˚ if using a dark, non-stick pan. Combine crust ingredients and press firmly into the prepped (greased and lightly dusted with flour) springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

 

Combine the cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla in an electric mixer at medium speed. Add the sour cream once it is blended, and mix well.

 

Turn the mixer to the lowest speed. Add the eggs one at a time. It’s best to crack these into a bowl and add them into the mixture one at a time. While the beater is on and if you accidentally crack any shells in, it could be a disaster.

 

Pour the filling over the baked crust. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes then turn off the oven and let it sit in the oven for at least 3 more hours. This is the stage that the cake becomes more dense.  It will most likely crack, which is when the sour cream topping comes in handy to hide these imperfections. 

 

You can make the sour cream topping while the cake is baking and spread it on the cheesecake before chilling the entire thing for at least 8 hours before serving.

 

Use a butter knife around the edges loosen the cake from the pan.  Allow it to sit at room temp for about 15 minutes before trying to get it off the entire pan. Remove the springform wall.  I generally just keep it on the bottom part of the pan as to avoid disaster while transferring it to a platter.

 

Garnish and slice.  Like all cakes, the first piece is always the hardest to remove. Cheesecake gets better with each day. If it lasts past 4 days though you will start to see the crust get soggy.

 

 

thick crust hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm