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Cheesecake is rightfully the most popular and loved desserts in the world. Creamy taste, light saltiness of the cheese and shortbread base = the simplest and perfect combination of the dessert that can be cooked by anyone.
Today we will share 8 secrets with you that will help you cook the best cheesecake:
- The most important component of this dessert is, of course, cream cheese, and the result depends a lot on the kind of cream cheese you use. We recommend you to pick a product with creamy texture and light saltiness in the taste – Philadelphia is perfect. You may opt for other types if you can’t find Philadelphia or prefer a cheaper option, but remember that if we replace it with another cream cheese, we will get different taste of the cheesecake.
- All ingredients have to be room temperature – this is important if we want to have a smooth texture of the mixture and for it to not layer out. Hard cream cheese may be softened in a microwave at a low capacity.
- Bake the cheesecake in a water bath so that the baking is slow and even, the texture remains creamy, and the surface doesn’t crack.
- Bake cheesecake at 130-150C until the temperature inside the cheesecake is 70C (if you measure with needle thermometer). The core should shake a little and the sides should be hard. The baking time is approximately 1 hour. When you are done baking, open the oven and let the cheesecake sit there for 15-20 minutes, then let it cool down at room temperature. When you’re cooling it down, the remaining fat travels to the core of the cheesecake and it will be completely done.
- After the cheesecake cooled down, soak the moisture from it with a napkin if needed and place into fridge for 4 hours right in the form. Make sure there are no intense foreign smells in the fridge, because cheesecake will absorb it.
- When you decide to prepare cheesecake, remember that it needs time to stabilize in the fridge. If you want to top it with chocolate,caramel, or berry decor, cheesecake should be cooled down and have a dense texture. After topping with decoration, let the cheesecake sit in the fridge for another 15 minutes to stabilize and for the topping to harden.
- To easily extract the cheesecake from the form, run a gas burner across its borders to warm it up. If this did not work, run a steel spatula or knife across the form’s borders, then even out the borders with a warm spatula.
- It is better to cut the cheesecake with a warm dry knife, because cold knife will crumble the texture and some of the cheesecake will stay on the knife. Taste the cheesecake 15-20 minutes after taking it out of fridge – this way its texture will be at its best and the aroma will reveal itself fully.
A nice bonus to those who read until the end – cheesecake recipe from Stephan Glacier
Crumble (the base):
- 110g butter
- 55g cassonade (brown sugar)
- 145g of flour
In the mixer mix sugar, flour, and soft butter with spatula nozzle. Mix until you get a smooth mass. Break the mass into small pieces and lay on a silicon mat or parchment. Cool down in a fridge for an hour, then bake at 160C for 15 minutes.
Crispy crumble (the base):
- 270g of ready crumble
- 45g butter
- 35g sugar
In the mixer, mix the ready crumble, sugar, and melted butter.
Cheesecake mass:
- 170g of crème fraîche (add a spoon of natural yogurt to the creme)
- Zest of half a lemon
- 360g of cream cheese
- 110g sugar
- 80g egg
- 20g egg yolk
- 15g starch
- 100g candied lemon paste (grind candied lemons in blender)
In the mixer bowl with a spatula nozzle mix crème fraîche, cream cheese, lemon zest. Add candied lemon paste, sugar, egg yolks, and eggs. In the very end, gradually add cream and mix everything for a couple minutes so that the mixture is smooth and even.
Heat up the oven to 90C. On a parchment, place metal ring that is 20cm in diameter and lay the crispy crumble in it so that it covers the borders a little, press well. On the crumble, pour the cheesecake mass and even with a spatula. Bake for an hour at 90C. Leave it to cool down at room temperature, then place into the fridge.
Take the cheesecake out of the form and run a hot dry knife in between the form borders and cheesecake. You may decorate the borders of the cheesecake with the remaining crumble.
Taste room temperature cheesecake.