Help, need cheesecake recipe!

[Momgonepostal]

I need to make a cheesecake for something and want a really good, reliable recipe. There are a million out there so I'd like to narrow the field a bit.

I'm looking for a standard, baked cheesecake. I'll probably do a strawberry glaze for it, so I'm open to suggestions there, too.

Thank you!

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

1. Here's the cheesecake I grew up with.

Mom’s Lemon Glazed Cheesecake Deluxe

2 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup sugar
6 tbs butter, melted
1 tsp lemon rind
3 tbs lemon juice
4 eggs
3 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla, divided
1 pint sour cream, room temp
3 tbs sugar

Combine cracker crumbs, ¼ cup sugar & melted butter thoroughly. Press onto sides & bottom of a 9 by 3-inch springform pan. Bake at 350 for 5 minutes.

Beat softened cream cheese at high speed until completely smooth. Add eggs one at a time beating after each addition. Add 1 1/3 cups sugar, them lemon juice & 1 tsp vanilla. Stir in lemon rind. Pour into cooled crust. Bake for 35 minutes.

Blend sour cream with remaining sugar & vanilla & set aside in warm place. Spread over cake after removing from oven. Return to oven for 12 minutes. Cool 30 minutes then refrigerate.

[grasswire]

2. that's pretty similar to mine...

...and I won a blue ribbon with it once. About the only difference is that 1) the sour cream goes IN the filling, and 2) mine has a tablespoon of flour stirred in at the end (which I always nearly forget to do) and 3) the eggs are separated and whites are beaten and then folded in (just before the flour goes in).

[merci_me]

3. Here's the NY cheesecake I made for my Brooklyn father

Dad loved anything deli and every trip back, we'd make several stops at the Carnegie Deli. Years later, after I married and moved away, whenever Dad would come to visit, he'd send me a list of the foods I made that he loved. This cheesecake was always a must.

This is really a heavy cheesecake, both in calories (I'm guessing, lol) and it weighs a ton. This is the kind of cheesecake that you want to cut into very thin slices. It makes 1 ten-inch cheesecake

Carnegie Deli New York Cheesecake

Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter (no substitutes)

Filling
5 8 oz packages cream cheese, at room temp.(do NOT use a low-fat type)
3 tablespoons unbleached flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
5 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup heavy cream

1. Combine the crumbs and sugar. Add the melted butter and mix to moisten. Press this mixture on the bottom and partway up the sides of a 10-inch springform pan. Place in the fridge to chill while making the filling.

2. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

3. Cream the cream cheese in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment until soft and fluffy. If you don't have the paddle attachment, you can use the regular beaters, it's just more difficult.

4. With the paddle, beat in the flour. Beat in the sugar, a little bit at a time. Beat in the vanilla extract, lemon juice, eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, and cream, beating very well between each addition.

5. Pour the cheese mixture into the springform pan. Bake at 500 degrees for 12 (twelve) minutes.

6. Turn the oven down to 200 degrees and bake for 45 minutes more.

7. Turn the oven off and leave the cake in the oven for 15 minutes.

8. Remove the pan from the oven and let cook on a rack for 1 hour.

9. Refrigerate the cake in the pan for 5 hours before removing the side of the pan. This is very important; the cake may collapse if the 5 hour period is cut short.

Enjoy
Mary

[merci_me]

4. OOOPS!!!! #8 should read

COOL on a rack for 1 hour. It got past me and spell check last night.

Mary

[housewolf]

5. Cheesecake tips

I had a little seasonal cheesecake business for a while and some time made up to 2 dozen full-sized cheesecakes over a 2-3 day period in my home kitchen. Below are a few things I learned about baking cheesecakes.


- For baked cheesecake, use a springform pan.

- Bake your cheesecake at least 1 day before you need it, to allow it to chill overnight in your refrigerator.

- Press the crumb crust mixture into the bottom of the springform pan and bake at 325 10 - 15 minutes, until desiered brownness.


MIXING
- Soften the cream cheese before mixing (bring to room temp or soften in microwave at low power)

- When mixing the filling, combine the cream cheese and sugar, then beat for about 3 minutes until very well blended.

- Add eggs 1 at a time, beat on slow - medium only until the egg is just blended (do not over-beat the eggs)

- Gently stir in flavoring ingredients at the very end of mixing (vanilla, chips, lemon rind, etc.)

- The use of starch (flour, cornstarch, etc) makes for a firmer, drier cheesecake. It is an optional ingredient and determines the texture of the cheesecake. For a smoother, silkier cheesecake, omit starch. For a firmer, New York-style cheesecake, add some flour.

- The addition of heavy (whipping) cream or sour cream makes for a smoother, silkier cheesecake. You can add up to 25% of the total cream cheese amount (weight) of cream, sour cream or combination (ex. if your recipe calls for 4 8-oz bricks of cream cheese, you can add up to 8 oz of cream, sour cream or a combination of the two). The addition of sour cream adds a slight tanginess to the cheesecake.


BAKING
- Bake in a moist oven at a low temp (325). When pre-heating the oven, place an oven-safe dish or pan half-filled with water on the bottom oven rack. Bake cheesecake on middle rack above the pan of water.

- DO NOT peek into the oven during baking

- DO NOT over-bake. When done, the edges should be slightly puffed and the center area, about the size of a silver dollar, should still appear soft and moist. The center will firm up upon cooling.


COOLING
- As soon as you take the cheesecake out of the oven, run a thin knife around the edge of the cheesecake, loosening it from the edges of the pan somewhat. This will help prevent cracking due to contraction of the cheesecake as it cools.

- Cool on a wire rack at room temp at least 1 hr before refrigerating

- Refrigerate uncovered 3 - 4 hrs or until thoroughtly chilled. Place a sheet of plastic wrap or foil across the top of the cheesecake, secure. Refrigerate overnight or up to 2 days.

- Garnish within 1 - 3 hrs of serving, depending on the stability of selected topping


FREEZING
- Prepare cheesecake as directed, omitting topping. Wrap securely in plastic wrap; overwrap with foil. Place in plastic bag; labe, date & seal. Freeze up to 2 months.

- Thaw wrapped cheesecake in refrigerator overnight.

- Individual slices should be cut and wrapped before freezing. Individual slices can be thawed in the microwave on Defrost (30% power) for 45 - 60 seconds. Let stand about 5 min before serving.


Lean & Luscious
- You can substitute Neufchatel Cheese, Low Fat Cream Cheese or Fat Free Cream Cheese in any recipe.

------------------

The biggest problem novice cheesecake bakers have is over-baking the cheesecake. If it cracks, it was over-baked. Longer baking at slow (low) temps is better. Cheesecake is basically a custard, so cooking it as a baked custard in a moist oven allows it to bake more evenly. Some bakers wrap their springform pan in heavy-duty aluminum foil (making sure that it won't leak) and use the pan of water as a bain marie, baking the cheesecake in a pan of hot water.

Most cracks can be covered with a topping, so don't despair if your does crack. It will still be delicious and greatly appreciated.

:9


P.S. Kraft Foods website has a "cooking school" section on making cheesecakes. You can find it here
http://kraftfoods.com/main.aspx?s=cookingschool&m=cookingschool/knet_search_cookingschool&u1=search&u2=cheesecake&u3=COOKINGSCHOOL

Or if that url doesn't work, go here
http://kraftfoods.com/kf/
Click on the "Cooking School" link at the top of the page,
and enter "cheesecake" in the "Search the Cooking School" box at the top right, then click "go"

There are several hundred cheesecake variations at this site as well. All are a variation of a their basic "Our Best Cheesecake" recipe -
http://kraftfoods.com/kf/CookingSchool/c_CookingClasses/OurBestCheesecake.htm

Once you get a basic cheesecake recipe down, it's real easy to make elaborate and wonderful variations.

[franmarz]

6. The best only cheesecake recipe ever invented.

As a young bride in 1953, I bought my first blender-a Waring, which came with a recipe book. This recipe book contained the best cheesecake recipe that our entire family is now using.
The recipe is a never fail, and is as follows.

2 Eggs
1/2 Cups Sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 1/2 Cup Sour Creme
1 Pound soft Cream Cheese-cut in small pieces
2 Tablespoons melted oleo-dont use butter-it needs the salt flavor.

Into the blender put eggs-sugar-vanilla and sour cream. Cover
and blend for 15 seconds.
With motor running, take off the cover,and gradually drop the
pieces of cream cheese.
Blend a few seconds then add the melted oleo.
Pour all into a crust-any kind-and bake at 325 degrees for
35 minutes. The filling will be soft,but will firm up as it cools.

I like the graham cracker ready made crust for myself.