Cheese cake

Directions • In a small bowl, combine cracker crumbs and sugar; cut in butter until crumbly. Grease the side only of a 9-in. springform pan; press crumb mixture onto bottom of pan. Place on a • In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in lemon juice and vanilla. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour filling onto crust. Return pan to • Bake at 350° until center is almost set, 45-55 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around the inside edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. • Refrigerate overnight. Serve with Raspberry Sauce and Sour Cream Topping if desired. Refrigerate leftovers.

Photo by Vladislav Noseek Cheesecake is my husband, Michael’s, favorite dessert. In fact, the first time I met my future mother-in-law over 20 years ago, she told me the way to her son’s heart was through his stomach – and whenever she wanted him to do anything as a child, she bribed him with a slice of NY cheesecake. A traditional lady she may be, but I got the message loud and clear: learn to make a good cheesecake! Though the ingredients are simple, cheesecake can be a little intimidating to make. Because cheesecake is a custard, it needs to be baked gently in a water bath, and you have to worry about the surface of the cake cracking, as well as over or undercooking. However, with the right recipe and a few pointers, a creamy, crack-free NY-style cheesecake is totally doable, even for beginners. What You’ll Need To Make A Classic New York Cheesecake This recipe makes a classic New York-style cheesecake with a buttery graham cracker crust and rich, dense filling made from cream cheese, eggs, sugar, sour cream, vanilla, a hint of lemon, and a few tablespoons of flour. Cream cheese is the key ingredient, so I recommend using a good brand, like Philadelphia. Though it is used most often as a Flour might seem like an unusual addition – not all cheesecake recipes incorporate it – but it’s the secret to success. A little starch helps prevent the cake from cracking and also makes the filling lighter and fluffier. Key Equipment You’ll need a 9 or 10-inch You will also need a Ste...

The graham cracker crust. The crust is everyone’s favorite part, and it’s super-simple to make—just finely crushed cookies, melted butter, a little sugar, and salt mixed together and pressed into a springform pan, then baked for 12 to 15 minutes. That's it! Want to swap out the grahams for something else? Go for it. Try Nilla wafers, Why do cheesecakes crack on top? —Overmixing. Beating your filling 'til just combined makes sure it won’t fluff up and then fall in the oven while baking. —Cooking your cheesecake too long. You're looking for the center to still be slightly jiggly before you turn your oven off and prop it open to cool. —Dramatic temperature changes from hot to cold. Speaking of propping your oven door open, it’s the best way to guarantee your cheesecake will cool gradually, thus avoiding any cracks. —Skipping the water bath. The main, unavoidable trick to avoiding all the cheesecake pitfalls is a water bath. It provides moisture and temperature control to the oven, which guarantees no dark spots on top, a light and creamy texture, and best of all, no cracking. Here’s how you do it: Wrap the bottom and sides of your springform pan in two layers of foil, place it into a larger roasting pan, then put the whole thing into your oven. With the pan in the oven, carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan (use a gooseneck kettle if you’ve got one). What toppings can I put on my cheesecake? Even if you do everything correctly, there’s still a chance of cracking....

Never mind the sour cream, farmer's cheese, cream cheese, water bath, and worrying about a sunken center. The filling for this delicious, easy cheesecake recipe has just four simple ingredients, and the cake bakes in a mere 30 minutes. Now THAT'S easy! Want to reduce the carbs and calories in this recipe? Substitute our • Select a pie pan whose inside top dimension is at least 9", and whose height is at least 1 1/4". Preheat the oven to 350°F. • To make the crust: Stir together all of the crust ingredients, mixing until thoroughly combined. • Press the crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan, making a thicker layer on the bottom than on the sides. • To make the filling: Mix together the room-temperature cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Mix in the eggs and vanilla, again mixing until smooth. To avoid beating too much air into the batter, use a mixer set at low-medium speed. To avoid lumps, make sure the cream cheese is softened, and/or at room temperature. Perfect your technique Blog Easy Cheesecake By PJ Hamel • Set the pie pan onto a baking sheet, if desired; this makes it easier to transport in and out of the oven, and also protects the bottom of the crust from any potential scorching. Pour the filling into the crust. • To bake the cheesecake: Place the cheesecake in the oven. Bake it for 20 minutes, then add a crust shield; or shield the crust with strips of aluminum foil. Bake for an additional 10 minutes (for a total of about 30 minutes). A digital ...