New York Style
Cheesecakes are creamy, and smooth, and rich, and dense, and absolutely
delicious. There are two popular cheesecakes in America today, the ones
made with cream cheese and the ones made with ricotta. John Mariani tells
us in his
'The Dictionary of American Food & Drink' that Americans have come to know
cheesecakes made with cream cheese as 'New York' (or ''Jewish'), and ones
made with ricotta 'Italian'. It is also interesting to note that both types have
their roots in immigrant New York City neighborhoods, both start with either
a pastry or graham cracker crust, and both use the standard eggs and sugar in
their filling. The only real difference being that one uses cream cheese
and the other ricotta and that the 'Italian' cheesecake sometimes contains
candied fruit.
We cannot talk about
cheesecakes without mentioning the pitfalls, mainly the questions of how do
we prevent cracking and when are cheesecakes done? First, let's talk
about cracks on the surface of a baked cheesecake, as this is a common
problem and is caused either by over beating the batter and/or by too much
moisture being lost as the cheesecake bakes (over baking). In order
to prevent cracks make sure you beat the ingredients at low speed as,
unlike a butter cake, you do not want to incorporate a lot of air into the batter,
you only want to beat the ingredients until they are nice and smooth. As far as the over baking of cheesecakes goes, this is a common problem as
it is difficult to know when a cheesecake is done. The thing to
remember is that you want the cheesecake to be firm but, if you shake the
pan gently, it should still wobble a little, and the center will still
look a little wet. For even though the center may not look fully
baked, once it cools it will firm up and be the correct consistency. Cheesecakes are cakes that should not to be eaten straight away as they
need to cool and then be refrigerated for several hours, preferably
overnight, so the flavors have time to blend and the texture becomes nice
and firm. The great thing about cheesecake is that it stores very
well and can also be frozen. To freeze, place the cooled cheesecake on a baking pan and freeze, uncovered, until firm. Remove the cheesecake from the freezer, wrap it in heavy duty aluminum foil and
place in a freezer bag. Seal and return to freezer. It can be frozen
for several months. Thaw the uncovered cheesecake in the refrigerator
overnight.
New York Cheesecake: Grease, or spray with Pam,
a 9 inch (23 cm) springform pan. Place the springform pan on a larger
baking pan to catch any leakage while the cheesecake is baking. Preheat oven to 350
degrees F (177 degrees C) with rack in center of oven.
For Crust:
In a medium sized bowl
combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter.
Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the sides of the springform pan.
Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.
For Filling:
In bowl of your electric
mixer place the cream cheese, sugar, and flour. Beat on medium speed until
smooth (about 2 minutes), scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating
well (about 30 seconds) after each
addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the whipping cream, lemon
zest, vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. Remove the crust from
the refrigerator and pour in the filling. Place the cheesecake pan on a
larger baking pan and place in the oven.
Bake for 15 minutes and
then lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) and continue to
bake for about another 1 1/2
hours or until firm and only the center of the cheesecake looks a little wet and
wobbly.
Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl
combine the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Spread the topping
over the warm cheesecake and return to oven to bake for 15 more minutes.
Remove from oven and carefully run a knife or spatula around the inside edge of
pan to loosen the cheesecake (helps prevent the surface from cracking as it
cools).
Let cool before covering
with plastic wrap and refrigerating. This cheesecake tastes best after
being refrigerated for at least a day.
Serve with fresh fruit or
fruit sauces.
Makes one - 9 inch (23 cm)
cheesecake.
To freeze:
Place the cooled cheesecake on a baking pan and freeze, uncovered, until firm.
Remove the cheesecake from the freezer, wrap it in heavy duty aluminum foil and
place in a freezer bag. Seal and return to freezer. Can be frozen
for several months. Thaw uncovered cheesecake in the refrigerator
overnight.
Adapted from Cheesecake
Extraordinaire by Mary Crownover.
Crust:
2 cups (200 grams) of
graham wafer crumbs or finely crushed vanilla wafers or gingersnaps
(process whole cookies in a food processor until they are crumbs)
1/4 cup (50 grams)
granulated white sugar
1/2 cup (114 grams)
unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
32 ounces (1 kg) (4
- 8 ounces packages) cream
cheese, room temperature (use full fat, not reduced or fat free cream
cheese)
Tips:
Sometimes the surface of the cheesecake cracks. To help prevent
this from happening do not overbeat the batter, especially when
creaming
the cheese and sugar.
Another reason for
cracking is overbaking the cheesecake. Your cheesecake is done
when it is firm but the middle may still look a little wet.
Also, make sure the
springform pan is well greased as cracking can occur if the cheesecake
sticks to the sides as it cools.
Machine
Translations are provided by an automated service and the accuracy of the
translations are not up to the standards of human translation. Machine
translations are provided for use by people with little or no English
skills. We recommend that people proficient in English use the English pages
rather then the machine translated pages.
Use of materials on Joyofbaking.com is
entirely at the risk of the user and Joyofbaking.com, Stephanie Jaworski or
Rick Jaworski
will not be responsible for any damages directly or indirectly resulting
from the use.
This
website and the contents are not endorsed or sponsored by the owner
of the "Joy of Cooking" series of books or its publisher Simon & Schuster,
Inc.
Content in any form may
not be copied or used without written permission of Stephanie Jaworski,
Joyofbaking.com. Students and non profit educators may use content without
permission with proper credit.
Page loading ... Please wait.
