My mom makes fabulous cheesecakes and, over the years, has shared several of her recipes with me. Surprisingly, this is not one of those recipes. I was tempted, but the lure ATK's promise of a "foolproof" cheesecake was too strong. (Plus, there's something very satisfying about getting to check off another recipe in one of my cookbooks.)

I did make a couple very minor changes to the recipe -- mostly to avoid having leftover ingredients -- but I tried to follow the instructions very closely. I don't have much experience with cheesecakes, so I was out of my comfort zone here. It seems to have turned out well though, despite my worries about it being underbaked, overbrowned, or not sweet enough.

I might be tempted to try turning the oven up very slightly next time, but I'm undecided. It did seem cooked in the end, so maybe it's best not to mess with it. I have similar thoughts about the browning step at the end. I felt that even just four minutes at 500°F made it quite dark and wondered if 475°F might not be a more suitable temperature. I may experiment with that next time. I'll see.

Sorry, I forgot to snap any photos and it's all gone now. Another thing to try to remember for next time!

New York Cheesecake

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

Crust

• 3/4 c. graham cracker crumbs (or 6 whole graham crackers, crushed)
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Filling

• 1kg (2.2 lbs) cream cheese, softened
• 135g mascarpone (or more cream cheese)
• 1 1/2 c. sugar, divided
• 1/3 c. sour cream
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 7 large eggs¹

Directions

Crust

1. Place one over rack in the upper middle position and one at the lower middle height.
2. Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F) and brush the bottom of a 23cm (9") springform pan with melted butter.
3. If you're starting with whole graham crackers and have a food processor, this whole procedure can be done with short pulses in the food processor. If you're starting with whole graham crackers and don't have a food processor then a molcajete or a Ziploc back and a rolling pin are probably your best bet for arriving at the crumb stage.
4. Combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugar, mixing well.
5. Add the flour and mix until evenly combined.
6. Pour in the butter and mix with a fork until all the crumbs look moistened.
7. Dump the crumb mixture into the greased pan and press it down firmly to form an even layer.
8. Use the bottom of a measuring cup to tamp it down and smooth it out a bit more.
9. Bake at 160°C (325°F) on the lower middle rack for 12-13 minutes.
10. Set aside to cool while the filling is prepared.

Filling

1. Reduce oven temperature to 95°C (200°F) and carefully grease the sides of the springform pan with a bit of melted butter.
2. Beat the softened cream cheese and mascarpone (if using) with 3/4 c. of the sugar for ~1 minute.
3. Add the remaining 3/4 c. sugar and beat for another minute.
4. Scrape down the bowl and add the sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla and beat for 1 more minute.
5. Beat in the eggs one or two at a time.
6. If desired, strain the filling through a fine mesh strainer.²
7. Pour the filling into the prepared springform pan and set aside for 10 minutes to allow air bubbles to rise to the surface.
8. Gently draw the tines of a fork across the surface to pop the air bubbles.³
9. Bake the cheesecake on the lower middle rack at 95°C (200°F) for 3-3.5 hours⁴. If you don't mind poking a thermometer into the top of the cake -- which seems criminal if you went to the effort of straining the filling and popping all the bubbles on the surface -- then you can test for doneness with an instant-read thermometer. Look for an internal temperature of 74°C (165°F).
10. Remove the cake from the oven and preheat the oven to 260°C (500°F).
11. Once the oven is preheated, place the cake on the upper middle rack and bake for another few minutes⁵ until the top is well-browned. Watch it carefully!
12. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes.
13. Run a thin knife around the edge of the pan, then continue cooling, in pan on wire rack, for 2-3 hours.
14. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 6-24 hours⁶ before serving.
15. Serve as-is or with a fruit compote of your choice.

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¹ The original recipe calls for six eggs + 2 yolks. This would definitely make the cake richer, but I didn't want to have to deal with figuring out what to do with two leftover egg whites, so I just put in an extra whole egg in place of the two yolks. This doesn't seem to have hurt the cake any. ^Back
2 I skipped this step. ^Back
3 I did do this step, but it didn't seem to work very well. A lot of the air bubbles seemed very reluctant to pop. I'm sure it's beneficial if you want the smoothest possible top, but I'd be inclined not to bother next time. It's fiddly and the bubbles don't bother me enough for it to be worthwhile. ^Back
4 Mine needed every minute of the full 3.5 hours. To the point where I was worried that it was still a bit underdone at the end of baking. I think it was fine in the end, but it made me a bit nervous. ^Back
5 ATK suggests 4-12 minutes, which is a pretty wide range. Mine was already quite dark after 4 minutes. As noted above, I think I would be tempted to try browning it at 250°C (475°F) next time, just to see how it goes. ^Back
6 Mine definitely didn't get a full six hours in the fridge before cutting, but it seemed none the worse for wear for it. ^Back