New York cheesecake.
I love cheesecake, especially baked cheesecake (although I wouldn't say no to no baked cheesecake either). There was a time when I would invariably order cheesecake for dessert at every cafe and restaurant. And very often I was disappointed, because rarely where it is prepared according to the classic recipe, from the classic «Philadelphia» and not cottage cheese mass etc. And my favorite cheesecake – is the cheesecake from IKEA: it has the perfect delicate creamy taste and velvety texture.
And recently I set out to make my perfect cheesecake, so that I could be 100% happy with it. I went through a lot of recipes, used a lot of products and in the end three of them were very successful. But then it turned out that my ideas about the perfect cheesecake do not coincide with the ideas of my husband. His favorite was an incredibly soft and creamy cheesecake, while I preferred a denser cheesecake. I'll share all three with you, and you can choose your own favorite.
The cheesecake itself, like all American cuisine, is very simple to prepare, but there are a few rules that are important for a perfect result.
The cream-cheese mixture should not be whipped, but simply stirred with a spoon to avoid introducing a lot of air bubbles, which will cause the cake to settle.
The cheesecake itself is very simple to make, but there are a few rules that are important for a perfect result.
Pastry chefs and hostesses often find that this dessert cracks during baking or cooling. To avoid this, you should either bake it at a high temperature in a water bath or cook it at a low temperature. I find the second way easier – there's no fiddling with water, no risk of it getting into the dessert, but it does take a little longer to bake.
A final rule of thumb is that the flavor of the dessert is revealed after it's been in the fridge for at least a night, so don't rush to slice it right out of the oven; your patience will be rewarded the next day.
So, first up – a delicate cream cheesecake. Shall we begin?
Inputs (for a 20-22 cm round mold):
base:
- sugar cookies («To tea») – 200 gr.
- cream butter – 90 gr.
cream:
- cream and cottage cheese («Philadelphia» – 750 gr.
- sugar – 200 gr.
- cornstarch – 15 gr.
- salt – a pinch
- lemon juice – 1 tbsp.
- zest of 1 lemon
- eggs – 3 pcs.
- yolks – 2 pcs.
- 33% cream or fat sour cream – 100 ml
Cooking cheesecake «New York».
I will immediately stipulate that the more flavorful your products, the tastier the dessert will be. Therefore, you should not take bad butter or unflavored cookies.
Prepare the cheesecake.
For the base, crush the cookies in a blender (I take sugar cookies like «To Tea», «Jubilee»)
Pour the melted butter into the crumbs and blend again in the blender until combined.
Place the resulting mixture on the bottom of a round mold with a diameter of 20-22 cm, tamp it well and send it to the refrigerator.
Place the crumb mixture on the bottom of a round mold with a diameter of 20-22 cm, tamp it well and send it to the refrigerator.
In the meantime, prepare the buttercream. The classic American version of cheesecake involves the use of «Philadelphia» cheese, but it can be replaced by its analogs – cream cheese «Almette» without additives, «Buko» cheese, etc. I do not recommend replacing with «Mascarpone» as this cheese is very fatty and has a different texture.
Mash the cheese in a bowl with a spoon, add the sugar, starch, salt, lemon juice and zest and mix again until smooth.
Add the eggs and yolks one at a time, stirring each time until smooth. Then pour in the cream or sour cream and mix again. You should end up with a white, homogeneous and fairly thick mixture.
Add the eggs and yolks one at a time, stirring each time.
Pour the mixture onto the crumb base and put it in a preheated oven at 200C for 10 minutes. Then, without opening the oven, reduce the temperature to 105C and bake the cheesecake for another 1.5 hours.
Bake the cheesecake for 1.5 hours.
Orientiate by your oven, if the cake starts to brown on top, cover it with foil. The center of the cheesecake should barely jiggle when it's done.
Cheesecake is done.
Turn off the oven, open the door ajar and leave the cheesecake to cool.
Then move it to the fridge for at least 8 hours.
Allow the cheesecake to cool.
Take the finished cheesecake out of the mold by lightly running a knife between it and the edge of the mold. Decorate with berries, if desired, and serve.
Serve.
Happy eating!
Be happy!
