THE PERFECT CHEESECAKE

I did not understand cheesecake as a little girl.

I didn’t get how you could make dessert with CHEESE. I never liked the classic cheese based desserts my family and people around me ate, so how was a cheese – CAKE supposed to be good? I didn’t even want to try it to be honest.

Back in the day, where I lived, desserts from around the world weren’t very popular yet. Non existent actually. We had some influences from the nearby countries but considering that cheesecake was invented in Greece, way waay far from home, I don’t remember seeing a proper baked, creamy cheesecake. But, I’m talking about almost 20 years ago.

It wasn’t until my 11th birthday, my whole family took a trip to miami. The asked for a table at “Cheesecake Factory” and told I could not eat at that restaurant and not have at least a bite of cheesecake. They ordered the classic cheesecake that comes with a few strawberries and chocolate for me. I honestly could NOT BELIEVE I was about to eat the horrible cheese dessert I managed to avoid for so long. (Remember I was a child)

So, I had a plan in my head. Have a small piece, cover it completely with chocolate or something, smile through it and get it over with. My whole family was watching me. I ate the tiny tiny piece and..

OH MY IT WAS AMAZING.

I ate the whole piece, by myself, without the chocolate. Creamy, sweet but not too sweet. Perfectly combined with the strawberries and sweetness of the chocolate. The cookie base gave it an extra crunch, simply amazing.

The best thing about this dessert is that you can make it and give it the flavor you want! The menu at cheesecake factory is ENDLESS! So many types of cheesecakes makes it so hard to choose! I want to try them ALL! Oreo, peanut butter cup, chocolate, lemon, red velvet and so many more!

Okay, enough of childhood memories and let’s start talking about the recipe.

This recipe has a few too many steps BUT it’s worth it and if you prepare everything you need before you start making it it helps.

EQUIPMENT:

This time I wanted to start with the equipment you’ll be using. Have everything on hand before you start baking!

Stand Mixer: You’ll need it for the entire recipe! Plug it in and make it work! You can use a regular mixer but a stand mixer makes it easier to keep it on while you add the ingredients.

Bowls: A big bowl or the bowl of the stand mixer for the cheesecake part. For the rest of the ingredients, weigh them and place them in small bowls.

Kitchen scale and cup measures

Springform Pan: You can use a regular pan and it works too! Just be careful when taking the cheesecake out because its a bit soft and delicate.

Aluminum foil: For the base. Put one layer on top of the base of the pan, close it and fold it to the sides. Use an extra layer on the bottom of the pan and cover the already covered sides again.

Roasting pan: Or any bigger baking dish. You’ll need this to bake the cheesecake in a water bath!

Food processor: You can also crush the cookies in a big but putting them in a food processor is so much faster.

Silicone spatula: Make sure you mix everything well! Cream cheese likes to stick to the sides or the bottom of the bowl so use this or a spoon to scrape the sides.

THE CRUST:

The crust is an easy mixture of vanilla cookies (graham crackers) and butter.

Super easy and quick! Process the cookies for a few seconds and add butter, easy as that. The cookie/butter ratio is 2 to 1.

Melt the butter completely and mix in the crushed cookies. With a spoon or your knuckles, press the mixture down to the base of your cake pan and bake it for 10 minutes before adding the cheesecake mixture!

THE CHEESECAKE :

The most important part of our recipe…

THE ACTUAL CHEESECAKE

You’ll need:

Cream Cheese

Sugar

Eggs

Heavy whipping cream

Sour Cream

Vanilla

Flour

Start by mixing the cream cheese with sugar for a few minutes. Do it until the tiny sugar crystals dissolve completely, about 3 minutes.

Next, add the eggs one at a time. I like to break the eggs in a small bowl before throwing it in. Make sure to mix well after each egg.

Ad the flour! The flour in this recipe helps the cheesecake have prettier sides and better structure without compromising the creaminess!

The final two ingredients mix quickly, so add the heavy whipping cream, mix well. Finally the sour cream and you’re ALMOST done! Make sure the sides don’t have anything stuck to them. With a spoon or silicone spatula scrape the sides and give it a final mix so that everything is smooth as silk!

The last step before actually baking the cheesecake is to bang the bowl against the counter 40 times. You’ll see the air bubbles come to the surface and pop!

BAKING THE CHEESECAKE:

The moment of truth! How are we going to make our cheesecake bake perfectly?

First, make sure the oven rack is on the third space.

Second, the cake pan has to have a bit of butter or oil spray so that the crust and the sides don’t stick as much!

Third, the water for the water bath has to start of hot. So, heat the water before adding it to the roasting pan or dish you’ll be using. The water has to reach half of the pan. Make sure you cover the cake pan with aluminum foil correctly before adding the water so that it doesn’t leak.

Fourth, bake it for an hour and al half. Turn the oven off and leave it there with the oven door a bit opened for an extra hour. Finally take it out and leave it on the counter for 30 minutes and THEN you can cover it with more aluminum foil before chilling it for at least 4 hours. I recommend you make it the day before and leave it in the fridge overnight.

TOPPINGS:

The great thing about cheesecake is that you can use this recipe as a base, and add ANYTHING to it!

Disclaimer: it doesn’t NEED anything. Personally I prefer a classic cheesecake with a bit of strawberry coulis and nothing more!

BUT

BUUUUUT

You can add almost anything.

Oreo Cheesecake: change the crust cookie to oreos, make a chocolate ganache and decorate with more oreos!

Dulce de leche: Same recipe and decorate it with SO MUCH dulce de leche! Amazing.

Peanut Butter Cup: Cover it with a mixture of peanut butter and chocolate ganache, peanut butter cups and a few toasted peanuts.

Brownie: Use chocolate cookies for the crust. Bake the brownie beforehand and cut it in tiny squares. Before placing the cheesecake in the oven, mix in the squares. Decorate with chocolate ganache and extra chocolate squares.

Classic: Strawberry or mixed berry coulis! SOO good!

And so many more! Do you have a favorite cheesecake flavor? Comment below and tell me which one is your favorite!