New York Cheesecake

The New York cheesecake is traditionally served without garnish. Fruit, jams and other are a recent addition.

Personally I prefer them without anything else. It preserves its wonderful mixed aroma of egg yolk, cream cheese and sour cream.  

A slice of New York cheesecake.

This smooth and rich tasting cake can be easily made with low fat cream cheese using exactly the same recipe. Enjoy this classic!

Cheese filling:

  • 250 g sour cream
  • 1,1 kg cream cheese
  • 280 g powdered sugar
  • 5 large eggs
  • 30 g flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Crust:

  • 260 g whole wheat flour
  • 65 g  fine sugar
  • 1 egg yolk beaten
  • 125 g salted butter (cold)
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract

Crust:

  1. Put baking paper on the bottom of a 23 cm spring form and grease the wall with butter. Stick a strip of baking paper around wall not higher than spring form.
  2. Whisk egg yolk, vanilla and sugar in a bowl until sugar is dissolved.
  3. Add butter in small pieces and the flour.
  4. Blend with a wooden spatula, When mixture start to crumble, blend with fingers quickly. Try to limit the blending time. You should have a crumble that sticks together when pressed.
  5. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate (4°C) at least 30 minutes.
  6. Dust a surface with flour, roll the dough to a thickness of between 3 and 5 mm. Dust with flour as needed.
  7. Wrap the dough sheet around the rolling pin and roll it out over the spring form. Tuck in the dough against the corners and press lightly against walls.
  8. Cut the dough against the pan wall at approximately 3 cm high (a little over an inch) and prick bottom over the whole surface with fork. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
  9. Preheat oven at 200°C about 15 minutes before taking the dough out of the refrigerator.
  10. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Never let the dough separate from spring form wall. The longer you let the crust in the oven the more likely it will separate. This will be a problem at the time of pouring in the cheese batter. Keep an eye on it.

When making crust pastry, you need to limit the formation of gluten. This will help minimize dough contraction when baking. Tips are: limit kneading, use cold butter, refrigerate before and after rolling dough. Some chefs knife-pulse the dough mixture in a food processor until they have something like bread crumbs. 

Cheese batter:

  1. Preheat oven at 165°C.
  2. Combine powdered sugar with cream cheese and beat at medium speed until light and creamy. 
  3. Add lemon zest, juice, salt, vanilla and eggs one by one.
  4. Using a spatula, blend in the sour cream and flour (sifted).
  5. Pour mixture over the cold crust in the spring form.
  6. Bake for 1 hour. Turn off oven but let cheesecake inside for another 45 minutes.
  7. Put cake on wire rack, let cool completely.  The center may wiggle a little but that's fine.
  8. Cover spring form with cling film. Leave in refrigerator overnight. It's important to refrigerate this cake for at least 8 hours.
  9. Remove ring and baking paper around the New York cheesecake.

Ready to slice and serve!


Tools used: Whisk, hand mixer, silicone spatula, measuring spoons, wooden spatula, sieve.





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