itshalfempty

Description

A dense, rich, and delicous cheesecake recipe I’ve tweaked over the years. This recipe doesn’t have a browned top, but it also doesn’t split and does not develop a “cake-like” consistency around the edge.

Adapted from: Cooking for Engineers

Ingredients

• 2lb Cream Cheese, softened
• 1c Sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg yolk
• 5 eggs
• 4oz graham cracker crumbs
• 1 T sugar
• 4 T melted butter + 1T

Instructions

For a 9” springform pan.

• Make the crust
  • Mix graham cracker crumbs with 1T sugar and 4T melted butter
  • Grease the bottom of the springform pan with butter
  • Press the mixture onto the bottom of the pan with something flat..the bottom of a cup or something similar
  • Bake for around 10m at 325
  • Cool
  • Grease the sides of the pan with butter
• Assemble the filling
  • Cut the cream cheese into small chunks and place the pieces into work bowl of a standing mixer. Beat the cheese on low until smooth, about two or three minutes. It may be easier to beat half the cream cheese first, followed by the second half.
  • Add the salt and about a third of the sugar.
  • Beat until integrated and scrape down the sides. Add another third of the sugar and continue to mix until the sugar is mixed in.
  • Add the final third of sugar and mix in
  • Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract and mix.
  • Scrape the sides down and mix in the heavy cream
  • Mix in the egg yok
  • Add half of the eggs & mix
  • Mix in the remainder of the eggs
• Wrap the bottom of the pan in aluminum foil. The goal is to prevent water from the waterbath from seeping into the pan. A double-wrap is advisable.
• Pour filling into cooled springform pan
• Shake / drop on the counter to try and remove excess air. Be careful to avoid breaking the foil.
• Bake
  • Place into a waterbath in a preheated oven set to 500. (Make sure the water is boiling).
  • After 15m, reduce oven temp to 250. Don’t open the door
  • Bake until the center reaches 165. Should be just under or near 1 hour
  • Remove from oven and place on cooling rack
  • After 10m, run a paring knife around the edge between the cake and the springform pan
  • Something can be placed on top to retain heat and moisture (like a bowl) to slow down cooling and reduce risk of cracking
  • After 2-3h of cooling, place into fridge

Notes

I’ve tried several different cream cheese brands. Philadelphia is seriously the best, as it has the classic “cream cheese” flavor. Organic Valley cream cheese is also good.