The United States seems to have an obsession with cheesecake. Call it a guilty pleasure if you will. I say it is a guilty pleasure because I never hear people talking about it, but cheesecake is the most popular dessert in the country. I read that somewhere. If it is not number one, it is up there!
Cheesecake comes in many forms and flavors but for me, I like the New York kind the most.
The recipe I'll write a little later is a fantastic NY cheesecake that can easily be modified for an infinite number of flavors. I'll include instructions for that as well.
First a funny story. Funny to me and my family...and pretty much anyone I have told this story to as well if my recollection is accurate.
A few years ago we were invited to the birthday of my nephew who lives here in Portland Oregon. The party was pretty fun and the kids were having a blast.
We'd had some really good grilled food, opened presents and then it was time for the cake. I don't know if my nephew had requested cheesecake or whether my sister-in-law just felt like making one, but the birthday was to be celebrated with cheesecake.
When the cake came out, it was cool looking. Polka dot cheesecake! I am sure she told me how to make it, but I don't remember anymore.
While the kids were finishing up one of the games, my brother-in-law was speaking to another parent, one of his friends I think, and I overheard him say "this is just about the healthiest cheesecakes you can make!"
My first thought was "why would you want to do that?"
In my mind cheesecake is not something that you want to be good for you! Isn't that the whole point? I think it should be rich and decadent. A dessert that you can't stay away from because it is sublime, creamy and definitely NOT good for you. It should be a dessert that makes you promise yourself that tomorrow you'll be good and eat your salad, veggies etc. tomorrow, but today, "I'm having some of THAT!"
The cake at the party had used goat cheese, goat milk and a minimum of sugar. The flavor was good, but it wasn't what I want in a cheesecake. The texture was wrong for my taste, probably because it didn't have enough fat. The sugar level was fine, but it wasn't the creamy version that I make.
That being said, most of the cheesecakes that I have eaten that are served in restaurants or are mass produced are too sweet, dry and almost crumbly!?! This is something that I don't understand. I don't know how to make one dry OR less crumbly. Maybe it's the ingredients I use.
You will need a 9-10 inch spring form pan, a food proceesor (mine is a cuisinart), a wire whip, a mixer (mine is a Kitchenaid), a sheet pan or other container that the pan will fit in, aluminum foil and a rubber spatula for this preparation.
Here is the recipe:
2 pounds of cream cheese (Philadelphia brand is the best, so use it I say)
2 whole eggs
3 egg whites
2.5 oz granulated sugar (my wife says she would like it to be sweeter, use your discretion, you will probably want more)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1C of heavy cream
Set the cream cheese out on the counter to warm to room temp.
For the crust:
18 squares of graham crackers (9 if yours are the big rectangle ones)
1/4 C granulated sugar
3 oz (6 T) salted butter
A pinch of kosher salt
It is important to make the crust first as it has to cool before the filling is poured in.
Let's make the crust.
Set your oven to 350F.
Break the graham crackers up into small pieces and put them into the food processor
and pulse them until they are nearly a powder.
If you do not have a food processor, break the crackers up a little more, put them into a ziplock bag and beat them into submission with a rolling pin, bottle, or some such device.
Place the crumbs into a medium sized bowl, add the sugar and mix them together.
Melt the butter on the stove or microwave I suppose.
Add the butter to the bowl and incorporate them into the cracker/sugar mix until it has a wet look.
Pour into your spring form pan and press it down to cover the bottom.
This crust is delicious so if you want to have the crust rise up the sides, double the recipe and press half into the bottom and form the rest onto the sides.
Bake for 10 minutes. The crust should not change color, but should brown slightly at the edges.
Pull from the oven and let it cool while you make the filling.
Reduce the oven temp to 300F.
Add the cream cheese in the bowl of the mixer,
add the sugar and mix it with the paddle attachment. The sugar helps the cheese reach a smooth texture. Scrape down the sides once or twice to make sure that all of the cream cheeses has reached a smooth creamy texture.
At this point I add the eggs.
Mix them until the entire mass is smooth, at first it will look really lumpy, but with more mixing it will come around.
Remember to scrape the sides a few times so that all of the mixture is the same texture.
Add the cream and vanilla.
Mix until all of the filling is the same (again scraping the sides).
Place some aluminum foil to cover the bottom of the spring form pan.
I usually use two pieces in a "T" pattern so that if my spring form leaks, my crust will not get water logged.
Pour the filling into the pan and give it a gentle shake to make it even out into the pan.
Place the spring form into the sheet pan and add about 1/2 inch of hot water and bake.
This one took about an hour. The test to see if it is done is to bump the pan in the oven and it should just quake but not produce any "waves".
When the cheesecake is done, pull it from the oven and let it cool to room temp before placing it in the refrigerator to cool completely.
To remove the cake from the pan, use a thin knife to cut around the sides before removing the ring from the spring form pan. Slice and garnish with macerated strawberries or whatever you fancy.
Yumm!
NOTE: To add different flavors to the cheesecake follow these guidelines:
For a chocolate cheesecake substitute 1 C chocolate syrup for 1/2 of the cream.
For fruit flavors it is best to use a low moisture purée. Some fruits lend themselves well to this such as mangos.
Fruits with a higher moisture content pose a bit more of a problem. My advise when using a higher moisture fruit is to purée the fruit, let it drain in a fine mesh strainer so that the liquid is separated from the solids. Take that liquid and reduce it on the stove and add it back to the the reserved solids and substitute as you would with chocolate.
The cooking times will vary due to your oven, the liquid content of the filling etc.
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