Cheesecake
Sorry guys, I’ve sort of let you slip through the cracks these past few days. We’ve been going flat-out since Friday, when we all went up to Canmore to do a story – Friday night we baked for the bake sale at Market Collective (thanks to Vincci‘s idea and organization we collectively raised $1200 for Meals on Wheels!), which was Saturday. Sunday was Ramsay Rocks, which we were there setting up first thing in the morning, and as I got to emcee, I was there for the entire day. We went straight from there to my parents’ house for my Dad’s birthday dinner – homemade pizza, salad, cherry tomatoes and wee bocconcini in balsamic vinaigrette with torn basil.
Although he’s lactose intolerant, my dad loves cheesecake so that he requested one. I hadn’t baked a cheesecake in ages, but pulled out my old standby – the cheesecake from my battered Canadian Living Cookbook (the one with the blue cover – mine has almost disconnected itself from the rest of the book). Yum.
It hadn’t occurred to me to make a cheesecake for a very long while, but sitting on the patio eating one topped with blueberries made it feel finally like summer was actually here. (The fact that it was summer solstice may have helped.) There are essentially two types of cheesecake: those you bake and those you don’t. The unbaked ones usually get their structure from gelatin and firm up in the fridge. Baked cheesecakes have a different texture altogether; they are denser and cheesier, but are just as easy to make. Regular cream cheese produces the creamiest results, but light cream cheese works very well too. Fat free cream cheese just doesn’t cut it. The key to a nice, creamy cheesecake is to not overbake it – it should be slightly jiggly in the middle when you take it from the oven. To keep the top from cracking, some spray water into the oven or toss a few ice cubes onto the bottom of the oven to add humidity as it bakes; I keep the temperature low and run a thin knife around the edge as soon as it comes out, then leave it to cool with the sides of the springform pan still intact – don’t take the ring off until your cake is completely cool. Chilled, even.
Cheesecake
Slices of plain cheesecake can be dressed up with anything you can think of: fresh berries tossed with a little sugar, thawed frozen berries in syrup, caramel sauce, or a drizzle of bottled chocolate sauce, as is or spiked with 1-2 Tbsp. Kahlua.
Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs or chocolate wafer crumbs
3 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. sugar (white or brown – optional)Filling:
1 1/2 lb. (three 8 oz./250 g packages) cream cheese, regular or light, or a combination
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
grated zest of 1 lemon (optional)
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
3 large eggsPreheat the oven to 350°F.
To make the crust, combine the graham crumbs, butter, and sugar and press the mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan that has been sprayed lightly with nonstick spray. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then set it aside. Turn the oven up to 425°F.
To make the filling, beat the cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar, flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla and beat it again, just until it’s smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Pour the batter over the crust.
Bake the cheesecake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 250°F and continue to bake for another 30-35 minutes. You can tell when the cheesecake is done when it’s barely firm around the edges and the center is just slightly jiggly. It will firm up as it cools. Immediately run a thin knife around the edge to loosen it from the pan, but allow it to cool completely and then refrigerate it for at least an hour before you remove the sides of the springform pan.
June 22 2010 | cake and dessert | 15 Comments »
