The Ultimate New York-Style Cheesecake
A luscious, mile-high cheesecake. No frills, just the real damn thing. Slow-baking and a very slow cooling is the key to this baby's velvety, melt-in-your-mouth texture. Warning: This cheesecake recipe involves a very long cooling time (and therefore a long waiting time for your cheesecake), but trust me, it's worth it! Follow these directions and you won't be disappointed!
Ingredients
Cookie crust
- 100g (1/2 c) butter + extra for the pan
- 260g (2 c) Spice cookies/graham cracker crumbs
- 3 tbs flour
Filling
- 1 kg (32 oz) full-fat cream cheese*
- 380g (1 3/4 c) fine sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 4 eggs + 2 egg yolks*
- 500g (16 oz) sour cream or creme fraiche*
- 1 tbs vanilla extract
Instructions
For the crust:
- Preheat oven to 50° C / 125° F.
Grease bottom and sides of 23 cm/9" springform pan with butter. Use some flour to spread over the seam of where the sides and base of the pan meet. This creates a little seal and can help prevent butter from
leaking out of any cracks. - Using a blender or food processor, grind cookies to a fine powder. Mix cookies crumbs together with melted butter and flour to make a dough.
- Press the cookie mixture into sides and bottom of the spring form using the back of a spoon. The crust should reach close to the top edges of the pan. Place pan in the freezer for about 30 minutes to let the crust firm up.
For the Cheesecake filling:
- In a large mixing bowl, mix cream cheese at lowest speed to soften. While this is mixing, whisk sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl until well combined.
- Add sugar mixture to cream cheese, a spoonful at a time, still beating at lowest speed. Mixing just until sugar crystals are dissolved.
- Add eggs and egg yolks, one at time, waiting until the yellow has disappeared before adding the next. Then add the vanilla.
- Lastly, add sour cream, a spoonful at a time. Mix just until no lumps remain.
- Pour batter into prepare pan. Carefully tap the pan full of batter on counter to pop any bubbles. Place in oven, 2nd to bottom rack, and increase temp to 150° C / 300° F (if using a fan setting -not recommended- increase temp only to 125.° C / 260° F.)
- Bake 1 hr 20 minutes. Once baking time is done, turn off the oven, but don’t
open it. Leave the cheesecake in the oven to slowly cool -this takes at least 8 hours/overnight. After this, chill in the fridge for an additional 8 hours. (Don't skip this step! I know that's a long time to
wait, but it's worth it!)
To remove from pan:
Dip a thin knife in warm water and gently slide around the edges of your springform. Unclasp the sides and remove. You can serve your cheesecake directly on the base of your pan, but it could get damaged while cutting your cake. I usually transfer it to a platter by sliding a metal spatula underneath to loosen, and then slowly sliding it onto the plate. Tip! do this while the cheesecake is cold.
Notes
* These ingredients need to be a room temperature
--> If using vanilla flavoring instead of extract, reduce amount to 2 tsp.
--> This recipe works best using the paddle attachment on your mixer (that's the one shaped like a triangle).
--> For the Dutchies among us- I like to use Bastognekoek for the crust, and cornstarch is the same as Maizena.
--> I usually bake my cheesecakes on top of a sheet of parchment paper. This'll catch any drips. Don't use anything other than parchment paper for this. Anything that conducts heat (a baking tray
etc), will cause uneven baking and possible cracking on the surface of your cake.
--> I usually bake this the night before, turn the oven off and let the cheesecake cool in the oven overnight. This makes the waiting a bit easier!
--> Worried about leaving your cake in the oven for 8 hours? As crazy as it sounds, this is perfectly safe. The sugar quantity in this recipe is sufficient to act as a preservative.