The Best Cheesecake Recipe
I have made a No-bake Jell-o Cheesecake Dessert. You surely have heard of the classic Philadelphia Cheesecake (with or without the sour cream topping) and its sister the New York Cheesecake. How can we forget an Italian Ricotta Cheesecake. And then there is the light and airy Japanese Cotton Cheesecake. Now that you have tried the rest, it’s time to try The Best Cheesecake from Joseph (here on Desserts-101.com). This is similar to a Japanese Cotton Cheesecake style only better.
This cheesecake is baked in a water bath (Bain-Marie). Don’t be afraid, this is not complicated and you have all the tools in the kitchen to easily make you own. No need to go out and buy something special. To make you own, just place the baking pan inside a larger pan and once in the oven, adding hot water at least half way up the sides. The purpose of the water bath is to provide a more gentle heat for the eggs in the cheesecake to set. This also helps prevent cracking from over cooking the eggs. I would not recommend baking your cheesecake without a water bath, but you can get an acceptable end product if your timings are perfect – meaning you have very little wiggle room from done to perfection to overdone and cracked.
You may have heard you should bake you cheesecake in a spring form pan. While it is true it is easier to get the cheesecake out of a spring form pan since you just disconnect the side and lift it off the base, if you do not properly wrap the pan in foil and have a good crust base to seal the seam, you can have water leak in or batter leak out. With a New York style cheesecake, the cheesecake sets up dense (and if properly chilled overnight, and it can easily be removed from the pan after freeing the edges and heating the bottom to release the fat bonds.). Whereas a Japanese Cotton Cheesecake is light and airy, more like a very light sponge cake and is typically removed from the baking pan 5 to 10 minutes after being removing from the oven and having the finish cooling occur on a cool rack.
Now onto The Best Cheesecake recipe!
The Preparation Work and Ingredients
This recipe makes 1 cheesecake, 10-inches (25 cm) diameter x 3-inches (7.5 cm) high. Note: In my video and pictures I am making two cheesecakes so everything has been doubled.
Prepare you baking pan by greasing it with pan grease, lining the pan bottom with parchment paper and greasing the parchment paper.
Pans greased, lined with parchment paper and the paper greased.
Measure out the ingredients. All ingredients should be at room temperature.
Ingredients for the cheesecake.
Preheat the oven to 350° F/176°C
Have enough water boiling so you can fill the water bath at least half way up the pan.
Making the egg yolk batter portion.
In a mixing bowl, add the following room temperature ingredients: soft spreadable cheese (or sour cream); cream cheese; and the sugar. Stir well to combine the ingredients. (I used a hand whisk, but you can use a portable hand mixer or a stand mixer, just take care not to over mix.) Add in the vanilla extract and egg yolks. Mix in to incorporate. Add the optional lemon zest if using. Mix to incorporate.
-
- Add the cream cheese to the bowl of soft cheese.
-
- Adding 1/2 cup granulated sugar.
-
- Mix well together with a whisk.
-
- Add the vanilla extract.
-
- Add egg yolks.
-
- Stir well until combined.
Add the corn starch (corn flour) and the all-purpose flour to a sifter then sift these into the batter bowl. Mix well to incorporate. Set this bowl aside which we make the meringue (egg white) mixture.
-
- Add corn starch to sifter.
-
- Add all-purpose flour to sifter.
-
- Sift the corn starch and flour into the cheese mixture.
-
- Gently fold the corn starch and flour into the cheese mixture.
Making the egg white (meringue) portion.
To a stand mixer bowl fitted a wire whisk, add the egg whites and start whipping the whites on medium speed. Continue whipping until the whites become foamy/frothy then slowly start adding the granulated sugar in a small stream. Continue whipping until the egg whites have reached the soft to medium peak stage.
-
- In the oil free bowl of the stand mixer, add the egg whites.
-
- Whisk the egg whites until the start getting foamy.
-
- Once the eggs whites have become frothy,slow add the 1/2 cup granulated sugar.
-
- Continue whipping the egg white mixture until soft peaks form
Combining the batters and pouring into pans.
To the egg yolk batter portion, add the milk and melted butter. Stir to mix well. At first it will look like it won’t mix, but keep mixing and it will mix in very shortly. Add a third of the meringue (egg whites) to the batter bowl. Gently fold the meringue in to lighten up the batter. Add the remaining meringue to the batter and fold in to mix well. Pour the cheesecake batter into a prepared 10-inch (25 cm) cake pan. (Fill you cake pan no more than 3/4 full.) This cake pan should be inside of a larger pan making a water bath possible.
-
- Add the milk to the cheese mixture.
-
- Add the melted butter into the cheese mixture.
-
- Mix the cheese mixture until the batter is smooth. It is normal to seem like it is too liquidity and it will not mix, but keep mixing and it will fully incorporate.
-
- Add 1/3rd of the ehh white meringue mixture to the batter.
-
- Mix the egg white meringue to incorporate.
-
- Add in the remaining egg white meringue mixture.
-
- Gently fold in the egg white mixture taking care not to deflate the egg whites.
-
- Pour the cheesecake batter into prepared baking pans.
-
- Place the pan into a larger pan and place in a preheated oven.
Baking the cheesecake.
Place the cheesecake in a preheated 350° F/176°C oven. Pour in very hot/boiling water into the larger pan. The water level should go half way up the cake pan. Close the oven door and bale for 10 minutes.
-
- Place the pan into a larger pan and place in a preheated oven.
-
- Add hot/boiling water to create a water bath to bake the cheesecakes in.
Turn down the temperature to 300°F/145°C and continue to bake for 60 minutes until done.
-
- I over filled my pans so the cheesecake is rising above the pan. They have been in for 15 minutes so it is time to turn the oven temperature down to finish baking.
-
- This cheesecake rises a little like a souffle.
Remove from oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack for 5 -10 minutes before removing from the cheesecake pan and allowing to fully cool before transferring to a serving plate and decorating as desired.
Remember cheesecake are highly perishable and need to be kept refrigerated,
The cheesecake has been cooled completely before being placed on a serving plate.
Side-note: As you can see, I over filled my pans and as the cheesecake rose it overflowed and spread a little. What could I have done differently? I should of made sure i did not fill my baking pan more than 2/3-rds full or I could of placed a 4-inch (10 cm) parchment paper strip collar around the inside of the pan before filling.
How to Make The Best Cheesecake
Recipe for the Best Cheesecake
- 1-2/3 pounds (26.5 ounces) Low fat (5-9% fat) spreadable cheese (Quark is one type) (or substitute sour cream) (about 750 Grams)
- 8 ounce package of Cream Cheese (Philadelphia® brick style) (about 250 grams)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 2 teaspoon of vanilla extract (10 mL)
- 6 large egg yolks (84 grams)
- ½ cup corn starch (also called corn flour) (60 grams)
- 3 Tablespoon and 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour (50 grams)
- 1 teaspoon Lemon zest (from 1 Lemon) (optional)
- ⅔ cup whole fat milk (160 mL)
- 3 Tablespoon and 1 teaspoon butter, melted (50 grams)
- 6 large egg whites (210 grams)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- Prepare baking pan (10-inch x 3-inch (25-cm x 7.5-cm) round cake pan) by greasing well, placing parchment paper liner pm the bottom and the greasing the parchment paper.
- Measure out all ingredients. It is very important that all ingredients are at room temperature (65-75°F/18-24°C)
- Preheat the oven to 350° F/176°C
- In a mixing bowl, add the following room temperature ingredients: soft spreadable cheese (or sour cream); cream cheese; and the sugar. Stir well to combine the ingredients. (I used a hand whisk, but you can use a portable hand mixer or a stand mixer, just take care not to over mix.)
- Add in the vanilla extract and egg yolks. Mix in to incorporate.
- Add the optional lemon zest if using. Mix to incorporate.
- Add the corn starch (corn flour) and the all-purpose flour to a sifter then sift these into the batter bowl. Mix well to incorporate. Set this bowl aside which we make the meringue (egg white) mixture.
- To a stand mixer bowl fitted a wire whisk, add the egg whites and start whipping the whites on medium speed. Continue whipping until the whites become foamy/frothy then slowly start adding the granulated sugar in a small stream. Continue whipping until the egg whites have reached the soft to medium peak stage.
- To the egg yolk batter portion, add the milk and melted butter. Stir well to mix. At first it will look like it won’t mix, but keep mixing and it will mix in very shortly.
- Add a third of the egg white meringue to the batter bowl. Gently fold the meringue in to lighten up the batter.
- Add the remaining meringue to the batter and fold in to mix well.
- Pour the cheesecake batter into a prepared 10-inch (25 cm) cake pan. (Fill you cake pan no more than ⅔ full.) This cake pan should be inside of a larger pan making a water bath possible.
- Place the cheesecake in a preheated 350° F/176°C oven. Pour in very hot/boiling water into the larger pan. The water level should go half way up the cake pan. Close the oven door and bale for 10 minutes.
- Turn down the temperature to 300°F/145°C and continue to bake for 60 minutes until done.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 -10 minutes before removing from the cheesecake pan and allow the cheesecake to fully cool before decorating or serving.
