Cheesecake question - Help!

ibs wrote: SNIP

SNIP

Personally, I like my cheesecake succulent and not dense. What I usually find in restaurants sticks to the roof of my mouth and I hate that.

I just may try your recipe.

Thanks, Raj V

Too much butter. In fact, I have never seen a NY style cheesecake recipe with any butter. I would also lose the ricotta. In fact, I think you simply need a new recipe. Here is the one that I like. It has a great, pure flavor, and nice texture - dense, but not too dense. You can substitute the crust you want if you don't want to make the sponge layer.

------------------ Junior?s Cheesecake Sponge Cake Layer Preheat oven to 350° Grease a 9 inch springform pan.

1/2 cup sifted cake flour 1 teaspoon baking powder pinch of salt 3 eggs, separated 1/3 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 drops lemon extract 3 tablespoons melted butter 1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. Beat egg yolks with an electric mixer on high for 3 minutes. Gradually add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and lemon colored ? about 5 more minutes. Beat in the vanilla and lemon extracts. Sift the flour mixture over the beaten egg yolks and stir by hand until well blended. Then blend in the butter. In a clean bowl with clean beaters, combine the egg whites and cream of tarter. Beat until foamy and then gradually add the reserved 2 tablespoons of sugar. Continue beating until the egg whites form stiff peaks. Combine about ¼ of the beaten egg whites with the flour mixture and mix until well combined. Then gently fold in the remaining egg whites. Carefully spread the batter on the bottom of the pan and bake for about 10 minutes or until the cake springs back when pressed with your finger. Set aside to cool.

Cheesecake Layer (Plain)

4 8oz packages of cream cheese (not low fat) 1 2/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup cornstarch 1 tablespoon vanilla 2 eggs 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat Oven to 350F Combined one package of cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, and the cornstarch in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on low speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining cream cheese, one package at a time and beat until smooth. Increase the speed to high and add the remaining sugar and eggs, one at a time. Beat thoroughly after each addition. Stop the mixer and blend in the cream and vanilla by hand. Pour the batter over the baked cake in the springform pan. Wrap the bottom of the pan with heavy duty foil. Set the foil lined pan in another slightly larger pan. Pour enough boiling water into the outer pan to submerge 1 inch of the springform pan. Bake for about 1 hour or until the center of the cake barely jiggles when it is shaken. Let the cake cool in the oven for about an hour with the door ajar. Let the cake cool for another hour outside the oven on a wire rack. Slide a knife between the cake and the pan and then release the sides of the pan. Wrap with plastic film and chill in the refrigerator over night.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

1 recipe of sponge layer 1 recipe cheesecake layer

1 cup solid pack pumpkin

1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon cloves

Preheat the oven to 350° Mix the pumpkin with the spices and set aside. Make the cheesecake as above. Beat in the spiced pumpkin mixture after the addition of the eggs. Mix in cream and bake as directed above. Chocolate Marble Cheesecake

1 recipe sponge layer 1 recipe cheesecake 3/4 cup store bought fudge ice cream topping

Preheat the oven to 350F Prepare cheesecake. Pour half the batter over the sponge layer. Melt the fudge ice cream topping in a double boiler or microwave. Combine with the remaining batter. Pour over the plain batter and draw a table knife through the cake to create a marble patter. Bake as directed above. Cover the pan with foil after about 45 minutes of baking to prevent over browning.

Apple Crumb Cheesecake

1 recipe of sponge layer 1 recipe of cheesecake layer

Apple layer

1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed 2 tablespoons all purpose four 1 tablespoon cornstarch ½ teaspoon cinnamon 1 ½ pounds tart-sweet apples 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Crumb topping

1 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 6 tablespoons unsalted cold butter, cut into small pieces 1/4 cup shortening 1/4 teaspoon lemon extracts 1/3 cup sifted confectioner?s sugar

Preheat the oven to 350F For the apples layer, mix the sugars, flour, cornstarch and cinnamon and set aside Peel, core, and slice the apples 1/4 inch thick (you will need 4 cups of apples). Drizzle with the lemon juice and toss with the sugar mixture. Spread about 2/3 of the apples over the baked sponge layer. Spread the cheesecake batter over the apples. Starting about 2 inches from the edge of the pan, push the remaining apples into the batter until they are almost completely submerged. Bake as directed above in the water bath for about 1 1/4 hours or until the center barely jiggles when you shake the pan, When top sets and starts to brown, (about 50 minutes) cover the pan with foil for the remainder of the baking time. While the cake is baking prepare the crumb topping. Mix the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Work the butter and shortening into the mixture with your fingers or a pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs about the size of small peas. Stir in the lemon extract. After the cake is completely cooled, top with the crumb topping and sprinkle with the confectioner?s sugar. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate it until serving time.

Vox Humana's post gives you probably the best thoughts on a new cheesecake recipe, so I'm not going to offer further suggestions along that line.

Your recipe sounds like something I'd like to try, though -- what are you using for a crust?

-j

j,

There is no crust. I've never really missed it. I've made variations - one with a pumpkin pecan layer - and I added the graham cracker crust to that. It was a nice combination.

I may try the suggested recipe the next time I make one. I do like a denser cheesecake, though. If it had the good flavor of mine and a richer consistency, I'd be thrilled.

Irene

----- Original Message ----- From: "jacqui{JB}"

Vox,

Thanks for the new recipe - a friend and I have been trying to perfect mine or find something new for a while; one of us will probably make it soon.

Irene

Thanks very much. I haven't had a crustless cheesecake since the one my Mom made with Sugar-Twin out of the original Atkins diet book, way back in the 70s (it was awful, if anyone's wondering). I'm looking forward to trying your recipe; it sounds really good.

-j

Hope you like this cake. It is the recipe from Junior's in New York. I have tried a lot of cakes and this is the best so far. A plus is that it never cracks.

That junior cheesecake is so popular,. now i kept on wondering why its called a cheesecake, it doesn't have cream cheese in the recipe ?!?! Oh, can i substitute cake flour with All purpose flour?

That junior cheesecake is so popular,. now i kept on wondering why its called a cheesecake, it doesn't have cream cheese in the recipe ?!?! Oh, can i substitute cake flour with All purpose flour?

It does have cream cheese in the filling - two pounds:

4 8oz packages of cream cheese (not low fat) 1 2/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup cornstarch 1 tablespoon vanilla 2 eggs 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

You can use AP flour but the sponge won't be as delicate; however, since it is only a minor part of the cake I wouldn't worry about it.

Hi your recipes is very close to my new york recipe, I have a few extras you should try. This recipe is very dense and I've served it at the hotel for a few years as a special. This is for a 9" springform. When I first got this recipe it wasn't in grams so here it is:

1 lb. cream cheese 1 lb. ricotta 4 large eggs, room temp 1 1/2c. sugar 2 oz. butter, melted, cooled 3 Tbsp. all purpose flour 3 tablespoons conrstarch 2 1/2 tsp. vanilla 2 c. sour cream beat cream cheese till smooth, add ricotta and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add butter, flour,cornstarch and vanilla, beat until well combined. Fold in sour cream. Bake in middle of the oven for 1 hour, turn off heat (don't open door) and let cake stand for 2 hours.

oh Yeah, thanks! i missed that part of the recipe :)