New York Cheesecake

New York style baked cheesecake with a rich yet light cream cheese filling and a buttery biscuit crust.

Whenever I think of cheesecake I think about the episode from the TV sitcom Friends where Rachel and Chandler discover the most luscious and creamy cheesecake they have eaten. And ever since that episode, I have wanted to get my hands on a cheesecake that would make me feel how they feel while eating a piece of that cheesecake.

The recipe that I am sharing today is my answer to that episode. The recipe yields a baked cheesecake that has a rich yet light cream cheese filling. I have made this recipe a couple of times now. Each time I have made it for guests, and after baking and letting it cool, I never found time to photograph it, even though it always came out really good. Its good that I didn’t photograph it then because the more I made it the more I gathered on tips and tricks that will help you get the perfect creamy baked New york cheesecake.

The original recipe doesn’t have a crust, but my mom likes crusts, and I have realized so do a lot of other people. Graham crackers are not easily available in India. While traditionally, one would use graham crackers in crust, digestive cookies are a good substitute for using in cheesecake crusts In India, you get McVities digestive cookies which can be used to make the cheesecake crust. I sometimes like to mix in a packet of Unibic’s Honey Oatmeal digestive cookies as well and am always happy with the results.

The recipe is adapted from here and I am so grateful for Katy to have posted it. The original recipe as is was perfect, but required a little tweaking to suit my and my family’s liking.

A few tips I have learnt from the original post (do check it out) as well as baking it a couple of times now, is to make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature. It is very important to keep that in mind if you want a smooth, creamy filling. Although its a vanilla cheesecake, I like the slight tang from lemon and recommend you using both the lemon zest and lemon juice. A 2-hour bake in my oven gives the perfect texture to the cheesecake. Cooking in a bain-marie helps the filling cook slowly and evenly, yielding a creamy cheesecake.

To check if your cheesecake is done, it should be a light golden from the top and the cheesecake should look set from the edges. When you shake it a bit and only a small circle in the centre jiggles slightly, you know your cheesecake is done. The cheesecake continues to set while cooling, so be sure to have that slight wobble else you would have probably over baked it.

Baked cheesecakes do require a lot of time, but the results are worth it. You need at least four hours for the cheesecake to set after baking and an overnight rest is ideal, so keep that in mind while planning your cheesecake baking.

While I love fancy variations of cheesecake, nothing beats a plain creamy baked cheesecake with a buttery crumbly biscuit crust. Not that I mind add ons but a slice of well made plain cheesecake always has my heart. You could of course serve this cheesecake with any topping. This balsamic roasted strawberry topping would be perfect to serve with the cheesecake.

I hope you get to try this recipe and in case you do, please share your results with me by tagging me on my instagram, facebook, twitter or leave a comment here. I always love to hear your feedback and see the photos of your baked goods.

New York Cheesecake

Prep time: 1 hour

Cook time: 2 hours

Total time: 3 hours

Serves: 1 10 inch cheesecake

Ingredients

For the crust:
225gms digestive biscuits crushed
110 grams melted butter
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
For the filling:
5 large eggs, room temperature
400 gms sour cream, room temperature
800 gms cream cheese, room temperature
113 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tbsp corn starch/ corn flour
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
juice from 1 lemon
1 tsp grated lemon zest

Instructions

Generously butter the sides and bottom of a 10 inch springform pan. Wrap a double/triple layer of heavy duty aluminium foil around the outside bottom and sides of the pan. This is to prevent from water leaking into the springform pan when you put it in the water bath.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Meanwhile prepare the crust.
In a food processor, crush the biscuits into a fine powder. Add the ground cinnamon and mix it. Add the melted butter and let the dough come together. Remove the biscuit crumb. Press the crumb mixture onto the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Bake the crust until golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool the pan on a rack.
Lower the oven temperature to 300 F and make the filling.
In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sour cream. Beat them together until well blended.
In another bowl, beat the cream cheese with the butter until smooth and creamy. Add to the egg sour cream mixture and beat for another 1 minute.
Add the sugar, corn starch, vanilla, lemon juice, lemon zest. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
Pour into the prepared springform pan, and place the spring form pan in a large roasting pan that is big enough to fit the springform pan without its sides touching. Place in the oven and carefully fill the roasting pan with very hot water to reach halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
Bake for 2 hours, or until the cake is very lightly colored and only the centre is slightly wobbly. The edges should look done Remove the roasting pan from the oven and carefully remove the springform pan from the water. Peel off the aluminium foil carefully. Let stand at room temperature to cool completely for about 4 hours. Refrigerate, covered, until chilled, another 2-3 hours or overnight. Overnight chilling yields the best texture.

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