How to Make the Perfect New York Cheesecake




How to Make the Perfect New York Cheesecake: a blog about making the perfect New York Cheesecake.

Introduction

I’m a huge cheesecake fan, but I’ve struggled to make mine taste as good as those from bakeries and restaurants. In this blog post, I’ll share some tips that will help you make the perfect New York Cheesecake at home.

Get the cream cheese out of the fridge and let it sit until it’s room temperature.

One of the most important parts of making a good cheesecake is using room temperature cream cheese. If you don’t, your cake will turn out lumpy and tough. To avoid this, get the cream cheese out of the fridge and let it sit until it’s room temperature.

How long to let it sit depends on how warm your kitchen is: if it’s really hot in there (80°F or higher), leave it out for an hour; otherwise 45 minutes should do just fine.

Mix the cream cheese, sugar, and salt on medium-high speed in a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer) until there are no lumps.

To begin, you will need to make sure that the cream cheese is at room temperature before mixing it with the sugar and salt. This can be done by taking out the cream cheese from the refrigerator about an hour before making this recipe. The next step involves using a stand mixer (or hand mixer) on medium-high speed to mix until all of the lumps have been broken up and thoroughly incorporated into each other. Do not over mix or use a food processor; both methods are likely to cause your New York cheesecake filling to be too grainy!

Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time.

Add eggs one at a time, and mix until just combined. Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time. Take care not to overmix or you’ll end up with an unsightly curdled cheesecake.

Add in the vanilla extract and lemon juice.

Add in the vanilla extract and lemon juice.

Now it’s time to add in your flavorings, which will be vanilla extract and lemon juice. This is where I get a little bit crazy with my cheesecake recipes: I like to use two teaspoons of vanilla extract instead of one. It gives the cake an extra kick, but if you’re not feeling that kind of boldness today then by all means stick with one teaspoon! The same goes for lemon juice—just add it in a tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired amount of tartness (and remember that once your cheesecake cools down after baking it will taste less sharp).

Pour in the sour cream and mix until it’s incorporated.

Pour the sour cream into a stand mixer bowl. Using a hand mixer, mix the sour cream until it is well-incorporated with the other ingredients. Scrape down the sides of your bowl about halfway through mixing to make sure that everything is incorporated evenly.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Make sure your oven rack is in the middle of the oven. Wrap a 9″ springform pan with foil that goes up around the sides of the pan–the higher up the sides you can go, the better (this will ensure that no water gets into your cheesecake). Spray with nonstick spray.

You’ll want to start preheating your oven to 500 degrees F. Once it’s reached that temperature, move your rack all the way to the middle position, and then prepare a 9″ springform pan by wrapping it with aluminum foil that goes up around the sides of the pan–the higher up the sides you can go, the better (this will ensure that no water gets into your cheesecake). Spray with nonstick spray.

Add the graham cracker crumbs and butter to a medium bowl and stir together until combined.

  • Melt the butter in a medium bowl in the microwave, or over low heat on the stovetop.
  • Add the graham cracker crumbs and stir together until combined, about 15 seconds with a fork or spatula (or less if you’re also using some sort of kitchen utensil).

Press down on the crust mixture into an even layer in your springform pan. You want this layer to be thick enough to hold up your cheesecake! Bake for 5 minutes, then let cool while you bake your cheesecake filling.

When you’re ready to bake the crust mixture, you want to make sure that your springform pan is prepared. Lightly spray with nonstick spray and then press down on the crust mixture into an even layer in your springform pan. You want this layer to be thick enough to hold up your cheesecake! Bake for 5 minutes, then let cool while you bake your cheesecake filling.

Turn down your oven temperature to 200 degrees F as soon as you put your springform pan in!

Once you’ve assembled your ingredients and equipment, it’s time to get cooking! First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Then, take out the springform pan and wrap it in two layers of aluminum foil so that no water can leak in during baking. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of the pan with some butter or nonstick spray (not olive oil).

Now it’s time for the crust! If you’re using graham crackers for this recipe, be sure to break them into pieces before adding them into a food processor along with sugar and melted butter. Process until crumbly; then spread evenly across bottom of springform pan (a flat-bottomed glass measuring cup is great for this). Next fill halfway up side of springform pan with water or vegetable oil to add weight while baking; set aside while making cheesecake batter next step here!

Conclusion

Congratulations, you’ve just made the perfect New York cheesecake! Serve it up with some fresh fruit or berries and enjoy.

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