Friday, April 22, 2011

Chantal's New York Cheesecake

Original Recipe Yield 1 - 9 inch springform pan

Ingredients

15 graham crackers (or cream crackers), crushed
2 tablespoons butter, melted

4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup milk (or less amount of milk if using plain yogurt)
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream (or strained plain yogurt..2cup yogurt yield 1 cup strained yogurt)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth.
4. Pour filling into prepared crust.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.

Tips:

OVERBEATING WILL CAUSE A CHEESECAKE TO CRACK. Beat cream cheese with sugar only until smooth. Proceed with a wooden spoon for the rest of the recipe. OVERBEATING WILL CAUSE A CHEESECAKE TO HAVE THE "WRONG" TEXTURE. Air bubbles, gritty/not creamy texture, etc.

OVERCOOKING WILL CAUSE A CHEESECAKE TO CRACK. Do NOT cook this cheesecake until it's set. Matter of fact, don't check it at all. Put the cheesecake in the oven, set the timer to 60 min., turn the oven off, and forget it. I mean it! Don't open the oven, just leave it alone to do its thing. And that's it. A beautiful cheesecake.