New York Cheesecake
When living in North Miami Beach, I frequented a great bakery that made New York styled cheese cake, but since moving to the Pacific Northwest, it’s almost impossible to find. I scoured the internet and cookbooks to find the best cheesecake recipe, and finally developed this smaller 8-inch traditional version. This cake reminds me of the cheese cake that I loved at the Miami bakeries but I’ve added a light sugar cookie style crust. Through my research, I found that the secret to a crack-free cheesecake is either using a water bath (I use a variation) or keeping the temperature low enough, also be careful not to over beat the mixture. I keep my stand mixer on the lowest speed (stir setting) and when you add the eggs and cream (I add last), beat just until the ingredients are mixed well. It’s great served plain or with blueberry, cherry or chocolate sauce, and I’ve also made a chocolate marbled version.
New York Cheesecake
Preheat oven to 400° F
Ingredients
Crust
- 3/4 cup flour
- 6 tbsp softened butter unsalted
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 large egg yolk lightly beaten
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
Filling
- 3 8-ounce packages Philadelphia cream cheese
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp lemon juice fresh squeezed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Crust
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl combine flour, butter, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla well with a pasty cutter until well combined and forms a dough. I use the wire whip attachment on my stand mixer and mix at medium speed (4 on KitchenAid stand mixer).
- Using an 8-inch cheescake or springform pan, grease the bottom portion of the pan with butter and then press about one-third of the dough to the bottom to form the crust. Leave a slight gap at the edges of the bottom plate.
- Bake in the 400° F oven for about 7 minutes or until slightly golden brown. Let cool for the next step.
- Assemble the pan and grease the sides of the pan with butter. Press the remaining dough up the sides of the cheese cake pan; beginning from the bottom (filling any gaps between the bottom and side crust) until the crust is formed to about 1.5 inches up the sides of the pan. The side crust will be cooked with the cheesecake.
- Set the pan with crust aside for the filling.
Filling
- Preheat oven to 450° F.
- Place a pan of boiling water on the rack below the rack you will be cooking the cheesecake. I boil water in a tea kettle and add the water to the pan once in the oven.
- In a small bowl, add sugar, flour and salt. Mix well with wire whisk and set aside.
- In an stand mixer bowl (or hand mixer), add in cream cheese and mix on low speed (stir setting on KitchenAid stand mixer) until smooth; add lemon juice and vanilla and beat on low (stir setting) to combine.
- Slowly add in the sugar-flour mixture on low speed (stir setting) to combine (do not over beat the mixture). Scrape off the edges of the bowl to ensure the mixture combines completely.
- Continuing on low speed add the eggs one at a time until combined; then add cream and beat only enough to combine all ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl again, if necessary.
- In the pan with the crust, pour in the cheese cake filling and level by tapping the pan on a flat surface. Pop out any bubbles that form on the surface of the mixture.
- Bake on the middle rack of the oven at 450° F for 15 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 250° F and bake for 1 hour (or until cener is set).
- Once done turn off oven, but leave the cake in the oven for 15 minutes, after 15 minutes, open the oven door a crack and let the cake and oven cool for about 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature
- Remove cake from pan and refrigerate overnight before serving.