Ingredients: |
Ingredients: CRUST
8 whole graham crackers, broken into 1-inch pieces
7 Tbs butter, melted and cooled
3 Tbs sugar
FILLING
2 1/2 lbs cream cheese, cut into chunks, softened
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) sugar
1/8 tsp table salt
1/3 cup sour cream (full fat)
2 tsp lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
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Directions: |
Directions:Crust
1. Put oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 F. Put graham crackers in food processor (or blender) and process into fine crumbs (about 30 seconds in food processor). Sprinkle 6 Tbs of melted butter and sugar over the crumbs. Pulse to incorporate.
2. Trace the bottom circle part of a 9-inch springform pan onto a piece of parchment or wax paper. Cut just inside your trace line, and line the bottom of the springform pan with the parchment circle.
3. Sprinkle the graham cracker mixture into the pan. Use the bottom of a flat-bottomed measuring cup or drinking glass to press the crumbs down into the bottom of the pan. Bake crust until fragrant and beginning to brown (10 to 15 minutes). Cool crust to room temperature (30 minutes).
Filling
4. When crust is out of the oven, crank the heat up to 500 F.
5. In the bowl of a stand mixer (with paddle attachment on), beat cream cheese on medium-low speed until smooth (1-3 minutes). (The cream cheese really needs to be close to room temp for this to work.) Scrape down the bowl and beaters occasionally through this whole mixing process.
6. Beat in 3/4 cup of sugar and salt, beating for 1-3 minutes. Beat in remaining 3/4 cup sugar, beating for 1-3 minutes.
7. Beat in sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla until incorporated, beating for 1-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs and the egg yolks two eggs at a time until combined (about 3 minutes of total beating).
8. Now go back to your crust. Brush the rest of the melted butter on the inside walls of the springform pan; be careful not to mess up your crust with the brush. Set the pie pan on a rimmed baking sheet (like a jelly roll pan). Carefully pour the filing into the pan. Scrape the bowl well but don't put in any cream cheese chunks that might be stuck to your beaters that aren't incorporated into the rest of the filling.
9. Bake cheesecake at 500 F for 10 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR. At the end of the 10 minutes, turn the oven temperature down to 200 F. Bake until the center of the cheesecake registers 150 F on an instant read thermometer. This takes about 1 1/2 hours. Don't start checking too early! You'll lose all your heat leftover from the 500 degree oven.
10. When cheesecake is done, put it on a wire rack (in the pan still). Run a little knife around the circumference of the pan between the pan walls and the crust. Cool on the wire rack for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. (Run a knife around the edge a few more times as the cheesecake cools.)
11. Wrap the cheesecake tightly in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
12. To serve, you can wrap a wet, hot towel around the outside edge of the pan and let it sit for a few minutes. Remove the sides of the pan and slide onto your serving platter. Cheesecake tastes best if it sits at room temp for about 30 minutes before serving. To cut clean slices, dip a long sharp knife in hot water, and dry off with paper towels between each cut. Serve plain or with your favorite topping.
Tip: To separate egg yolks from the whites, just crack two eggs into a cereal bowl. One yolk at a time, just reach in with your fingers, cradle a yolk, and pull it out. You may have to pass it back and forth between your hands once or twice, but any white that sticks to it will fall off easily. You don't need to mess with egg separaters or trying to use the shells to pass the yolks back and forth. |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: New York Cheesecake can seem like a really daunting recipe, but despite the many steps, this recipe is actually really straightforward and almost fool-proof. If you follow these steps, it turns out well so consistently. It's really fresh tasting and not too rich or sweet. The pieces are so amazingly tall that it's also a really impressive recipe to serve at a party or something, and it goes really far. Bryan requests this for his birthday cake sometimes.
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This recipe for New York Cheesecake (adapted from America's Test Kitchen) is from