The Richest Creamiest Cheesecake Food

RICH AND CREAMY CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place foil over bottom disk of a 9-inch springform pan, tucking excess underneath disk; assemble pan. Pull up foil around pan sides. Brush interior of pan with butter. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs into pan, tilting it in all directions to coat evenly with crumbs. Cover exterior of pan with a sheet of heavy-duty foil and set in a large roasting pan. Bring a kettle of water to a boil for water bath.
• Meanwhile, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add sugar and beat on medium speed until it is fully incorporated, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated and scraping down bowl after each addition. Add zest and vanilla and beat until just incorporated. Stir in cream and sour cream by hand.
• Pour batter into springform pan. Set roasting pan on oven rack, set springform pan in it, and pour in enough boiling water to come about halfway up the side of springform pan. Bake until perimeter of cake is set but center jiggles when pan is tapped, 55 to 60 minutes. Turn off heat and leave oven door ajar, using a long-handled kitchen fork or spoon if necessary to hold it open for 1 hour. Remove springform pan from water bath and set on a wire rack; cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours. Cheesecake can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.

EXTRA RICH AND CREAMY CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Lightly spray a 9" springform pan with non-stick spray.
• Wrap the bottom and sides of the pan with heavy duty tinfoil. I recommend doing several diligent layers here to ensure no water creeps through when you place the pan in the water bath. Set pan aside.
• In a large bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter; stir well to combine. Firmly pat the mixture into the prepared pan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes. Place partially baked crust on a cooling rack and set aside while you prepare the filling.
• In the body of a high power blender, food processor, stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a very large bowl using a hand held mixer, beat the softened cream cheese until completely smooth, scraping the bowl as needed.
• Add sugar and vanilla and beat smooth, scraping down the sides and bottom of bowl as needed. Add in the eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Add in the cream and beat until it's just incorporated in the batter.
• Pour filling into prepared crust and, using a silicone spatula, smooth the top.
• Place the cheesecake pan into a large, deep pan. Fill the pan with 2 inches of hot water. This is your water bath and will help ensure your cheesecake comes out crack free.
• Carefully place the pan in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Turn oven off and let the cheesecake sit, undisturbed, for 45 minutes, inside the oven with the door shut. The cheesecake should be still slightly wiggly.
• Remove cake from oven and gently run a knife very around the edge of the cake. Place the cheesecake pan on a cooling rack and cool completely, then loosely cover the pan with saran wrap and chill for at least 8 hours.
• Cheesecake will keep, covered in the fridge, for 5 days. Cheesecake may be frozen for 2 months. Thaw overnight before slicing.

THE BEST CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.
• For the crust: Put the butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl, cover with a paper towel and melt in the microwave in 10-second increments. Brush a 9-inch springform pan with some of the melted butter.
• Stir together the remaining butter with the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and salt. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan, taking care to get the crust evenly to the edges. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool. Place the pan on a large sheet of foil and wrap up the sides. Place in a roasting pan.
• For the cheesecake: Beat together the cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat until just combined. Mix in the eggs by hand, one at a time, until just combined. (Take care not to overmix or the cheesecake will puff up and crack.) Pour the batter evenly over the crust, smoothing the top. Pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come about halfway up the sides of the foil-wrapped springform pan. Bake until the outside of the cake is set but the center is still slightly loose, about 1 hour and 20 minutes.
• Turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour. Remove the cheesecake from the roasting pan to a cooling rack. Run a knife around the edge and cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours.
• Run a knife around the edge of the pan once more and unlock to unmold the cheesecake. Transfer to a serving platter or cake stand and smooth the edges with a knife.

THE RICHEST CREAMIEST CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix graham cracker crumbs and sugar in bottom of 9 inch springform pan. Stir in melted butter until all crumbs are wet and can spread in a layer on bottom and up the sides of pan, may need to melt some more butter.
• Cream ricotta cheese and cream cheese in a large bowl with electric mixer. Add sugar, eggs, vanilla, and lemon extract. Mix well.
• Mix together flour and cornstarch and add to cheese mixture. Add melted butter and mix well. Fold in sour cream. Pour cheese mixture into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for one hour. Turn off heat but leave cake in closed oven for two more hours. IMPORTANT! Do Not Open Oven Door! I know you will be tempted but don't do it! After three hours remove cake from oven and let cool completely.
• While cooling make filling. Defrost and drain berries, reserving juice. Add enough water to reserved juice to equal 1 cup. Combine all ingredients, except coloring, in small saucepan and cook over med-low heat until thick. Simmer 5 min and then add food coloring. cool 10 minute and spoon on top of cheesecake.
• Store in refrigerator till ready to serve.

TALL AND CREAMY CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• To make the crust: Butter a 9-inch springform pan - choose one that has sides that are 2 3/4 inches high (if the sides are lower, you will have cheesecake batter left over) - and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil.
• 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 along 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 above or below the midway point on the sides. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the over. (The crust can be covered and frozen for up to 2 months.)
• Center a rack in the over, preheat the oven to 350 degrees 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.
• To make the cheesecake: Put a kettle of water on to boil.
• Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is 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 1 full minute after each addition - you want a well-aerated batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir 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 nothing has been 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, you can bake the batter in a buttered ramekin or small soufflé mold.) Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
• Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour 30 minutes, at which point the top will be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven's heat 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, although overnight is better.
• At serving time, remove the sides of the springform pan - you can use a hairdryer to do this - and set the cake on a serving platter.