Divine New York Cheesecake Recipe

Name: Divine New York Cheesecake Recipe
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 12 Servings
Ingredients: Digestive Biscuits: 1 1/4 cup; Almond Meal: 1/4 cup; Ground Cinnamon: 1 tsp; Salt: 1/2 tsp; Unsalted Butter: 1/3 cup; Philadelphia Cream Cheese: 4 x 8 oz packs; Sugar: 1 1/4 cup; Sour Cream: 1/2 cup; Vanilla Extract: 2 tsp; Egg: 5; Lemon Zest: 1 lemon; Sour Cream: 1/2 cup; Sugar: 2 tsp

Smooth, creamy, rich... Ooooohhh....

1 hour 30 min
Serves 12
Medium

Ingredients

Crust
1 1/4 cup Digestive Biscuits
Finely crushed
1/4 cup Almond Meal
Or crushed almonds
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
1/3 cup Unsalted Butter
Melted
Filling
4 x 8 oz packs Philadelphia Cream Cheese
soft
1 1/4 cup Sugar
granulated
1/2 cup Sour Cream
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
5 Egg
1 lemon Lemon Zest
Topping
1/2 cup Sour Cream
2 tsp Sugar

Directions

(New York Cheesecake Recipe adapted from The Cheesecake Factory)

I did say that eating healthy does not mean no sinful food right? It is definitely ok to treat yourself to a different favourite treat. Any cheesecake lover would have heard or tried the famous Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory in USA. It was a cake that I loved since my college days.

This rich and decadent New York Cheesecake recipe is really YUMZ! Ed has been making it for years and I learned it from him. It is his father’s favourite birthday cake and it is really easy too. Over the years, we have learned some tips and tricks as well as made some modifications to make this even more special.

The original recipe recommends a water bath, but we feel it is ok without. There may be little cracks, but since you are covering it with a layer of sour cream, it is not big deal. The hassle of a water bath is not really worth it (in our humble opinion). We started off with water baths and found it very finicky. So far, we have baked this cake about 4 times with no water bath and really found it so much easier. But I will still share the step with water bath option in case you want a perfectly crack less cake (maybe because you want to skip the topping). UPDATE: Actually just lower the temperature of the oven to 200C for first 10min and then bake at 160C for the remaining 50min or till light brown in colour. The cake should not crack (different ovens need slightly different temperatures).

We also realized the trick is to bake the cake a few days in advance and let the cake rest. It actually tastes better after at least 3 days. I think the flavours of the cheese somehow just blends better with the other ingredients and creates a more well rounded flavour than when it is fresh. When fresh, the cheese will taste sharper and flavours are not as well blended. I hope I am describing this in a way you can understand! If not, try it anyway Eat a slice everyday and taste the difference. =)

This recipe is for a 9 inch pan or a 6 inch springform cake pan and a 6 inch tart tray to prepare both a cake and a tart. If you are also preparing a tart, add another 1/3 cup of digestive biscuits or almond meal or some of each, 2 tbsp on butter and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and salt each. This is so that you will have enough for the tart base.

New York cheesecake

new york cheese cake

As you can see, the cake rose way taller than the cake pan. And well, it was a rather tall cake. for a 6 inch tin. So if you want to reduce the height, you can either half the recipe and forget about the tart or reduce everything by 1/3 or make 1 more tart or many little tarts.

The cake shrank just a little after cooling down and the cracks by the side became less visible too. Thus, we felt these cracks are no biggie.

New York Cheese tart

If you are as bad as me at frosting the cake, then try to hide the ugliness by laying some fruits on! LOL… We did that for my FIL’s birthday cake last year. Not only does it taste good, it also looks prettier and more colourful for a birthday cake.

Besides using sour cream, you can also use lemon curd. The tangy sweet lemony curd goes super well with the cheesecake. You may click on the link above for the recipe.

new york cheesecake with macerated cherries

This was decorated with macerated cherries that we marinated in Grand Marnier overnight. Definitely had a kick to it.

New York Cheesecake with fruits — Decorated with sour cream, fruits, nuts and chocolate.

New York Cheesecake — Decorated with a layer of lemon curd followed by strawberries on the rim and a light meringue in the middle, lightly torched.

TIP (Updated: 11/10/2016):

How to slice a cheesecake? Make sure the cheesecake is properly chilled before slicing, and slice in one fluid motion. Well, if you have tried slicing one, you will know that the cream tends to stick on the knife. So the best way to slice a cheesecake is to make sure that your knife is warm and clean. I will usually pour or dip the knife with some warm water. Then have a plate on hand to scrape the sides of the knife to remove any cheesecake clinging on it after each cut.

Once done, I usually will have a few mouthfuls of cheesecake on the plate for me to feed on as an additional treat. =P

Also, if you would like a less sinful treat, one way is to make a shorter cake. Use a 9 inch pan and half the portion. That way the old folks at home still think they are having a full slice of cheesecake but actually eating less.

Also, if you happen to burn the top or have a concave from a sinking cake, simply shave off the top carefully after chilling it. Chill the cake for at least 8 hours then using a palette knife gently shave off the higher parts of the top then decorate the top to camouflage.

Hope you enjoy the cake and share your pictures with us! =)

By the way, do like us on our facebook page – live2eatlovelaugh, if you had enjoyed our recipes and would like to hear more from us.

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Steps

1 Done	Preheat Oven to 250C Place the baking rack on middle of oven. If you prefer to do the water bath, you can place a large skillet (that you can move around stably) or tray of water into the oven while it is preheating. This will be your water bath.
2 Done 5 min	Prepare the crust If you have yet to crush the cookies, you can do so using a food blender or a mortar pestle. I prefer to use the pestle as it is just less stuff to wash. In a mixing bowl, combine all the crust ingredients and mix evenly.
3 Done 5 min	Lay the crust Cut out a piece of baking paper for the base of the pan. Using a few drops of water, dab on the pan and place the baking sheet in the pan, covering the base. Spoon the crust onto the baking sheet and using the base of a flat cup or mug, press on the crust so that it packs tightly together. Start from one side and slowly work towards the rest of the pan. It will be good to have about a 1 cm crust on the sides as well to prevent the cheesecake from getting wet if you are going to use the water bath. Remove any excess from the sides. Place in freezer while you prepare the filling
4 Done 5 min	Mix the filling Place the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla into a mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer or your stand mixer, blend the ingredients together till smooth and creamy. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs together then pour into the cream cheese mixture. Continue to blend well to incorporate the eggs.
5 Done 5 min	Fill the pan Remove the crust from the freezer and pour the filling into the pan. Filling it to no more than 4/5 of the pan.
6 Done 1 hour	Bake If you are using the water bath, place the cake carefully into the water bath. If like me you are not using the water bath, just place the cake tin in the middle of the oven. Bake the cake for 12 minutes at 250C. Then reduce the temperature to 175C and bake for 50 min or until the top of the cheesecake is a light brown colour. Remove the cheesecake from the oven to cool.
7 Done 5 min	Prepare topping While the cheesecake is cooling, prepare the topping. Combine sour cream and sugar in a bowl. Once the cake is around room temperature, spread the topping on the top of the cake with a flat spatula. Cover and chill the cake in the fridge for 3 days. Slice and serve.