A couple of weeks ago I made the cheesecake in Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours. It turned out perfectly. So perfectly, in fact, tht I decided to make it again for Thanksgiving, except – you know me – I had to change it up a little bit. Again – perfect cheesecake. It must be foolproof. The texture is creamy, sweet, and, well, everything a cheesecake should be. It’s the type of cheesecake they would serve at a high dollar bistro – except you made it yourself in your own kithen. Yes, it does take time. Not so much in preparation, as that is fairly easy since the Kitchen Aid does it all for you, but the bake time. Good Lord. Sheer torture, I tell you.
Perfection Cheesecake
baked in a 12 inch springform pan, serves 16
Graham Cracker Crust
2 cups crushed graham crackers
4 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ginger
5 Tbsp. Melted Butter
Cheesecake
5 boxes softened Cream Cheese
1 2/3 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
5 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sour cream
You will need a deep springform pan for this cheesecake, as it is quite tall. Wrap the 12 inch springform in a double layer of aluminum foil and butter the inside well. For the crust, whisk all the ingredients in a bowl, then pour over the melted butter and combine well with a fork or your fingers. Press into the springform bottom and up the sides, about halfway is fine. Bake on a baking sheet at 350 for 10 minutes, then remove and allow to cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 325.
Put all of the cream cheese into the mixer and whip at medium speed for about 5 minutes. Slowly add the sugar and salt while the mixer continues to run for another 5 minutes. Add the vanilla, followed by the eggs. Add the eggs one at a time, and allow them to beat for about a minute each before adding another egg. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the sour cream and the whipping cream.
Fill a large pan with very hot water and place the springform pan in it so that the water comes up the sides about halfway. Pour the cheesecake batter into the springform until it reaches the top. Bake on the middle rack at 325 for 1 1/2 hours, until top is lightly browned. Turn off the oven and prop the door with a wooden spoon for another hour. Remove from oven and allow to come to room temp, then refrigerate for several hours. Remove sides of the springform pan just before serving.
I added chocolate syrup to mine, but this cheeescake is just as tasty on it’s own. I think it would be fanstastic with a layer of dulce de leche and chocolate, or with a nice strawberry syrup. I really don’t think you can mess this one up!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
That looks like one tasty cheesecake! YUM!
Wow! It looks fabulous. I am really psyched to try this one out.
yumyumyumyumyumyumyumyumyum
is all i can say to those pictures!
Thankyou very much for the recipe, let’s hope that if I ever get round to making it, it goes down just as good as yours did – I’ll be dead chuffed if it does!
Just discovered your website! Loved the note about the torturous wait time for this cheesecake and it made me laugh in agreement. My biggest lesson in reading a recipe completely through before commencing the cooking process happened when I decided to make a cheesecake (different recipe, but exact same cooking/cooling times) at 8 in the evening. Let’s just say, I dozed on the sofa until after 3 am when it was finally ready to rest in the fridge.