Classic New York Cheesecake (An Old Fashioned Cheesecake)

❤️Why you will love this recipe

• This is a classic cheesecake recipe, and one that is easy to make. It requires very basic ingredients too and no heavy cream required.
• The cake is perfect to be enjoyed at home as a dessert after a hearty meal and it also makes a great dessert for special occasions.
• The buttery digestive biscuits / classic graham cracker crust and creamy texture of the filling make a perfect combination in this delicious New York cheesecake recipe.

Crust

• Digestive cookies (or Graham crackers / Graham cracker crumbs) - makes the crunchy crust of the cheesecake.
• Granulated sugar (caster sugar) - to sweeten the crust.
• Butter (melted) - I use salted butter but unsalted butter will also work fine.

Filling

• Cream cheese - use full fat cream cheese that is sold in blocks. The spreadable cream cheese will not work for this recipe. Make sure the cheese is softened at room temperature.
• Granulated sugar (caster sugar) - fine sugar works best as it dissolves better compared to coarse sugar.
• All purpose flour + salt - mix these together before adding into the cheese mixture.
• Vanilla extract - adds a lovely aroma to the cake.
• Grated lemon zest + juice - use fresh lemons and strain the juice to remove seeds before using.
• Sour cream - adds a creamy texture to the cheesecake.
• Eggs - use large eggs.

Topping

• Sour cream (optional)

🧾Substitution and Variations

• If you wish to make a larger cheesecake, double the recipe above and bake it in a 9 inch round cheesecake pan.  Add 10 minutes to the indicated baking time. 
• Instead of the sour cream topping, you can vary the cheesecake by spreading a layer of lemon curd, salted caramel or chocolate ganache. You can also use other fruit filling like strawberry filling and blueberry filling. Alternatively, top the cheesecake with fresh fruit like raspberries.

Making the cheesecake crust

• Prepare your tin. Springform tins are the best as trying to flip the New York cheesecake out of a normal tin can be totally frustrating. For easy transferring of the cheesecake into a serving plate, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Grease the sides of the springform pan.
• Next, prepare the crust. Crush your cookies in a food processor or fill them into a zip lock bag and crush them with a rolling pin until they turn into fine crumbs. Transfer into a small bowl.
• Add sugar to the crumb. Mix well.
• Add melted butter.
• Mix until the crumbs are all well moistened.
• Transfer the crumbs into your prepared tin. Press down evenly using the back of a spoon or the back of a flat drinking glass. Once the New York cheesecake crust is done, set it aside. 

Making the classic cheesecake filling

• In a large bowl, cut the cream cheese into small pieces and beat with a paddle attachment at medium speed on an electric mixer (hand mixer or stand mixer) until creamy. Beat at 10 seconds interval, scraping the sides of the bowl at each interval.
• If your cheese is cold, you would need a longer time. If warmer, a short time would be sufficient. The rule of thumb is to not overbeat it, approximately 30 – 60 seconds will do.
• Next, add in sugar, flour, salt, lemon juice, and lemon zest all at once and beat for about 20 seconds until the ingredients are just combined. Scrape the bowl at each 10 seconds interval. 
• Add vanilla extract and both the eggs at once and beat again for 10 seconds. Scrape the bowl and beat again for a final 10 seconds until the batter is all smooth and well combined. If you see tiny specks of cream cheese in the batter, it is perfectly alright. You need not try to achieve a perfectly smooth batter. Over beating at this stage can cause too many air bubbles in the New York cheesecake batter, so it is important to keep a note of that. 
• Fold in the sour cream with a spatula and mix until it is well combined.
• Pour the New York cheesecake batter into the prepared crust and level the top.

This classic New York cheesecake needs to be baked in a water bath. Place the cheesecake tin in a slightly larger tin and place both tins in an even larger baking dish filled with water. This will avoid you from having to wrap the sides of the pan with foil.

1. To make the water bath, fill a large baking dish or baking pan with water.
2. Place another tin in the pan of water.
3. Place the springform pan in the second tin.
4. This way, the water will not seep into the springform pan. If you don’t have fitting tins, wrapping the sides with foil is the only option. 

• Bake cheesecake on the lowest oven rack (with the fan function turned off) until the sides are firm and the middle is still wobbly. Let the New York cheesecake rest in the oven (with the oven door closed) for about 10 minutes before removing it from the oven. Once removed, let it rest at room temperature on a wire rack for another 10 to 15 minutes before loosening and removing the sides of the cake tin. 
• Refrigerate the cheesecake (along with the bottom of the cake tin) for at least 4 hours (or overnight). If you wish to remove the bottom of the cake pan, do it after chilling the cake. That way, the crust will be firm and not break as you slide the New York cheesecake (with the parchment intact) onto a serving plate or cake board. Before sliding it off onto a plate, run a knife between the parchment lining and the tin bottom to loosen and separate them. 
• Garnish the classic New York cheesecake top with a thin layer of sour cream. 

🍽️Serving & storage

• This classic New York-style cheesecake lasts well for a good 4 to 5 days provided it is kept in the refrigerator. To avoid the cake from becoming dry in the fridge, it is best stored in an airtight container.

Reduced oven temperature

• When baking cheesecakes (including this New York cheesecake), the oven temperature should be lower as compared to when baking other cakes. A general guide would be to lower your oven temperature by about 10 degrees Celsius from the temperature you would normally use for other baking.
• Too hot an oven can cause the New York cheesecake to brown too much on the top and crack. 

Mix your batter until just combined, do not over mix 

• Unlike cakes where butter and sugar need to be well creamed, when mixing cheesecake batter, you only mix the ingredients until they are just combined.
• For this classic New York cheesecake recipe, suffice if the cream cheese is creamed for about 30 seconds to 1 minute and then for the sugar and eggs,  another 20 to 30 seconds each.
• Over beating the batter can cause too much air to be incorporated into the New York cheesecake batter. These air bubbles will cause your New York cheesecake to have unsightly bubbles on the surface after baking.

Place the cake on the lowest rack in your oven

• This helps avoid the top of the New York cheesecake from getting too heated. Placing it on the lowest rack helps avoid cracks as well as over-browning of the top. 

Keep the oven interior moist by baking in a water bath (bain-marie)

• This is done by placing your tin in a baking dish filled with water in the oven and let the cake cook with the water in the oven. The water will help keep the interior of the oven moist, preventing this classic cheesecake from drying out as it cooks and potentially avoids cracks.
• When using a spring-form pan, to avoid water from the baking dish seeping into the cheesecake, you can wrap the sides of your pan securely with aluminum foil and then place it in the water-filled baking dish.
• The other way is to place your springform tin in another slightly larger baking tray and then place both in the water-filled baking dish. This will also prevent the water from seeping into the cheesecake as it is baking. 

Choose a 'non-fan' oven setting

• If your oven comes with a fan function, disable the fan function. This helps in avoiding cracks as well.

Keep to the baking time indicated in the recipe

• Cheesecakes should not be cooked until the top is all set. Ideally, you should turn the oven off when the sides are firm and the center is still wobbly.
• This cheesecake will continue to cook as it cools down and that is how the cheesecake should be handled. Let it rest in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes to avoid sudden temperature change which can also cause it to crack.  

💭FAQs