New York Styled Baked Cheesecake

I love watching the sitcom Friends. In the episode of 'The One With All The Cheesecakes', Chandler and Rachel can't resist eating their neighbour's delicious cheesecake – and that episode always makes me crave for cheesecake. 

Cheesecakes are essentially rich cheese and egg custards baked over a biscuit crust. It’s not technically a ‘cake.’ New York styled baked cheesecake is known for its creamy and satiny texture. It is rich, dense and with a flat top; that’s exactly how I like my cheesecake. 

Homemade cheesecakes are surprisingly easy to make and require very little active time. The hardest part of the process is waiting for it to bake, cool, and chill overnight.

The classic way for baking cheesecake is by using a water bath. A water bath, is the baker’s secret to creamy cheesecake perfection. All you need for a water bath is a deep roasting pan and foil.

The cheesecake batter is basically a rich custard, it needs to be treated delicately. Without the moist heat of a water bath, the custard can take on a rubbery texture.

With cheesecake, our primary goal is to bake it slowly and evenly without browning the top and this is made possible by the water surrounding the pan. 

So here’s the recipe. 

Ingredients

200gm digestive biscuits 

1/4 Cup melted butter

400gm cream cheese

1/4 Cup granulated sugar

2 Tbsp curd

400ml heavy cream

2 eggs

2 Tbsp corn starch

1.5 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp lemon juice/ vinegar

Method For Crust

1. Wrap around a 9 inch springform pan in two layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil. This would prevent any water entering into the mixture while baking. 
2. In a medium sized bowl combine the biscuit crumbs and melted butter. Mix well to make a cheesecake crust mixture.
3. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom of the springform pan. Refrigerate the pan along with the crumbs for about 15 minutes while you make the filling.

Method For Filling

1. In a bowl whisk cream cheese till smooth. 
2. Add sugar, curd and cream; continue to whisk till smooth. 
3. Add eggs, cornstarch, vanilla extract and vinegar. Whisk until well blended and looks smooth.
4. 
   Remove the crust from the refrigerator and spoon the cheesecake filling mixture into the pan.
5. Place the cheesecake springform pan on a roasting pan. 
6. Transfer the roasting pan into preheated oven at 180°C. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it reaches about halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
7. Bake for 30 minutes. 
8. Reduce the oven temperature to 150°C and continue to bake for 30 minutes more. 
9. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven for 1 hour. 
10. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow it to cool completely.
11. Refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 6-8 hours to set well before serving. You can cover the cheesecake with a cling wrap or foil and freeze for a few weeks as well.
12. When you are ready to serve the New York Style Baked Cheesecake, serve it along with a delicious strawberry or blueberry compote. 

So, go ahead and make this yummy dessert. In the words of Rachel from Friends - “It was cheesecake. It was fine. It had a buttery, crumbly, graham cracker crust, with a very rich yet light, cream cheese filling… (Pause) Wow! My whole mouth just filled with saliva!”

Slurrrppp!!!