Some time, in food as in life, less is more. This is invariably true with respect to cheesecakes. You can adorn them any way you like, with chocolate and caramel, strawberries or pumpkins, even chilli peppers, but nothing is as good as a plain, old, New York cheesecake. This epicurious.com recipe is a breeze to make and positively delicious. I’ve made it a bunch of times, modifying it as I’ve gone along. Graham crackers traditional for the crust, but use Nila wafers instead and you’ll have heaven on your plate.
If your springform pan is tight enough, you can make the cheesecake directly on it. If you have doubts about it, you can also line it with parchment paper. Just remember to grease both the pan and the top surface of the paper.
One word of warning, while the first time I made this cheesecake it did not crack, it has cracked for me every time since.
New York Cheesecake
Graham crust
- 1 1/2 cups finely ground graham crackers
- 5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/8 tsp. salt
Nila wafer crust
- 1 1/2 cups finely ground Nila wafers
- 5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 1/8 tsp. salt
Filling
- 4 8-oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 5 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
Instructions
Preheat oven to 475F.
Make the crust by mixing the cookie crumbs with the butter, sugar and salt. Grease a 9″ springform pan. Press crumb mixture onto the bottom of the pan and 1″ up the sides. Pun the pan on a shallow baking sheet and set aside.
In an electric mixer, mix together the cream cheese, sugar and flour using high to maximum speed. Add eggs and yolks, one by one, mixing at low speed. Mix until they are fully incorporated, scraping the sides as necessary.
Pour the filling into the crust. Place the baking sheet and pan in the middle of the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 200F and bake for one hour, or until the cake is mostly firm.
Cool on a rack and then refrigerate for at least 6 hours. A half hour before serving, carefully separate the cake from the pan using a knife, if necessary, and open the springform pan. Transfer the cake to a serving plate. Let rest at room temperature for about half an hour and serve.