Growing up, probably because some member of my extended family really loved it, we always had cheesecake at the dessert table for holidays. My mom was always the queen of turning out the pies (the traditional apple and pumpkin and usually some wild card), and I’m not sure who was responsible for the cheesecake. For a little while I think it was my cousin’s girlfriend at the time. She also taught me how to fold sheets- I hope by now she’s found someone who appreciates her organized bed linens and killer cake.
This isn’t her cheesecake, because as a 6-year-old I hadn’t yet turned into a recipe hoarder. And after parts of our extended family moved away, we stopped having cheesecake at holidays, even though I’ve always loved it. But last Christmas, my dad, who enjoys throwing out new (often ridiculous) menu ideas at holidays (with no intention of helping to make them) requested cheesecake. At the time we were frankly just pleased that he’d moved on from insisting on blueberry pie in the middle of the winter, so we happily obliged.
When I need a good basic recipe, I always turn to Dorie Greenspan (I also give out her vanilla ice cream recipe like it’s my job). And rightfully so, because this cheesecake was a real winner. Honestly, better than I remember cheesecake ever being, and I have some great memories. It’s a total classic, with buttery graham cracker crust and an interior that’s somehow both densely rich and almost fluffy. It gets golden and gorgeous on top and is a complete showstopper, in my opinion. And if you’re a “more is more” kind of person, then it’s also a great base for experimenting with other mix-ins and toppings. I like my cheesecake classic.
I made this for the second time a few weeks ago and, even for me, the idea of eating an entire cheesecake before it ran its course in the fridge was pretty horrifying. So in case you weren’t aware, cheesecake freezes exceptionally well. You can defrost it and then eat it, or you can eat a frozen slice if you’re lazier and it’s hot out (I have been using this method and in fact just broke the bonded retainer behind my teeth eating a frozen slice with my hands. So glam!). It’s so satisfying and, if you eat too much, gives you that very particular kind of stomachache that only comes from eating a lot of cheesecake (very similar to the one you get from eating too much flourless chocolate cake, but distinct). It is all part of the experience, my friends.
Note: a good way to remove cheesecake from a springform pan after it chills is with a hairdryer. Just run a blunt knife around the cake and the warm the sides of the pan with a hairdryer.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 stick / 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 lbs. (four 8-oz. boxes) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 1/3 cups sour cream, or heavy cream, or a combination of the two (I use sour cream because I like the tanginess it adds that cuts the sweetness)
Instructions
- Butter a 9-inch springform pan- choose one that has sides that are 2 3/4 inches high (if your sides are lower, you will have cheesecake batter left over)- and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil. Make sure you do this very tightly.
- Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. (I do this with my fingers.) Turn the ingredients into the springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs over the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Don't worry if the sides are not perfectly even or if the crumbs reach slightly above or below the midway point on the sides. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven. (The crust can be covered and frozen for up to 2 months.)
- Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
- Put a kettle of water on to boil.
- Working with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until soft and creamy, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat for another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minutes after each addition- you want a well-aerated batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.
- Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in a roasting pan that is large enough to hold the pan with some space around it.
- Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure that there is nothing left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape the batter into the springform pan. The batter will reach the rim of the pan. (If you have a pan with lower sides and have leftover batter, yo ucan bake the batter in a buttered ramekin or small soufflé mold.) Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into it to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
- Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top should be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.
- After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster- be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminum foil- and remove the foil. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.
- When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours; overnight is better.
- At serving time, remove the sides of the springform pan and set the cake on a serving platter.
Notes
https://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2017/08/23/classic-cheesecake/
