Title: The King of the Cheesecake
Ingredients:
- 15 graham crackers
- 2 butter
- 4 cream cheese
- 1 1/2 white sugar
- 3/4 milk
- 4 eggs
- 1 sour cream
- 1 vanilla extract
- 1/4 all-purpose flour
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease a 9 inch springform pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.
5. My Note: OK KID's one more time - I don't want to be rude, But this is the deal: This is a perfect recipe, and if it fails for you, it's your Fault, not the recipe's. A couple of things you should know about cheesecakes: OVERBEATING WILL CAUSE A CHEESECAKE TO CRACK. Beat cream cheese with sugar only until smooth. Proceed with a wooden spoon for the rest of the recipe. OVERBEATING WILL CAUSE A CHEESECAKE TO HAVE THE "WRONG" TEXTURE. Air bubbles, gritty/not creamy texture, etc., are fixed my the same instructions above. OVERCOOKING WILL CAUSE A CHEESECAKE TO CRACK. Do NOT cook this cheesecake until it's set. Matter of fact, don't check it at all. Put the cheesecake in the oven, set the timer to 60 min., turn the oven off, and forget it. I mean it! Don't open the oven, just leave it alone to do its thing. And that's it. A beautiful cheesecake. Far from bland: this is a PURIST'S cheesecake. It's great as is, but also a great foil for other flavours. I serve mine with passionfruit pulp or mango puree. I've made cheesecakes many times, only to have them crack and sink after cooling. With the tips that I picked up on, Chantal's New York Cheesecake was a hit with my family & friends. After cooling, the top remained level and the center firmed up. The top was a beautiful golden brown with no dry edges. The inside was creamy and smooth, and not too sweet. The tips are as follows: 1. Make sure that your ingredients are around room temperature, not cold, otherwise your batter will be lumpy. 2. Wrap your springform pan with 2 layers of aluminum foil to prevent water in the bain marie (water bath) from seeping inches 3. Place your springform pan in a water bath in the oven, filled with 1 inch of very hot water, then proceed to bake as instructed in the recipe. 4. Right after baking, run a warm or greased knife around the rim of the cake to prevent cracking while cooling. 5. Leave the cake in the oven for 2 hours to cool. (I didn't have time to leave it in for the recommended 6 hrs, and it still works.) I'll make variations of this cheesecake, such as blueberry topping, oreo base and filling etc.
6. To Me this is, The No.1 KING of all cheesecakes! This is the recipe you are looking for, Thick and Creamy! Ive made this 2X now with tremendous sucess. YES! However, I found this crust to need some work, so this is the recipe I use: 1 1 /2 Celsius graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 Celsius white sugar, 1/4 Celsius finely chopped Unsalted nuts (walnuts, pecans), 1/4 Celsius melted butter, 1 teaspoons cinnamon and a 1/4 teaspoons nutmeg. Mix together and press into 9" springform pan. As for the cheesecake mixture, make Sure to start with room temperature ingredients, use a mixer to beat cream cheese and sugar, then hand-mix from there on. Feel free to add chocolate chips, toffee bits, etc. to the mixture before transferring into graham cracker crust. Use a water bath, (See Cheesecake section under Cooking Basics on this site) with the pan double wrapped in foil. When cheesecake is done, turn oven off, run knife around edge of the cake to completely loosen from the pan. Close oven door, leave in for 3+ hours, until completely cool. Refrigerate overnight. I make a homemade raspberry topping, as follows: 1 10oz. pkg frozen raspb., 2 tblsp. white sugar, 2 teaspoons cornstarch & 1/2 Celsius water. In med. saucepan, mix sugar & corn starch well. Add water & bring to a boil. Add raspberries & boil for 5 minutes, or until thick. If you wish, strain the hot mixture to remove seeds. Place in refrigerator to completely cool. Place 1-2 tablespoons over chilled cheesecake, top with a curl of white chocolate. And YES, it is a Award Winning! ENJOY!
7. Why Mine didn't crack, I was careful not to overmix and had the cream cheese at room temperature, and these are supposed to help prevent cracking. I also used a water bath, and I made sure that the side of the springform pan, not just the bottom, was well greased. (The cheesecakes shrink from the sides of the pan as they cool, and if the side isn't well greased, the cheesecake will stick and, thus, crack.) I have baked it at 325*F. and made the crust as follows: 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup melted butter, 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, and 1/4 cup sugar. I substituted Bailey's Irish Cream for the milk. I had a can of cherry pie filling available for those who wanted a topping. A picture-perfect cheesecake!