Cheesecake!

I love to bake. I don’t generally eat tons of baking, but I do love to bake. Quite often I’ll send banana bread, banana chocolate chip muffins, cinnamon bread, cinnamon raisin bread, an Italian herb bread, or even red velvet cupcakes to work with my husband. I also love to bake cakes for my kids birthdays, and so on. I’ve done Mario cakes, Star Wars cakes, princess cakes, Thomas cakes, Paw Patrol, plain cakes, and the list goes on.

A couple of weeks ago, my brother in law turned another year older. So, we offered to host cake and coffee for his birthday. When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted, he chose cheesecake. Not just any cheesecake, but a New York cheesecake with salted caramel on top. Sounds daunting to make, doesn’t it? Nope! If I can make this while in the most scatter-brained state, then you can make it too! Here’s how!

New York Cheesecake

Ingredients needed are as follows:

• 1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup plus 1 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted (I generally use unsalted, but due to the richness of the cake, I add a pinch of salt in this recipe)
• 5 packages (8 oz) cream cheese, at room temperature (NOTE: Do NOT skimp on the cream cheese if you do not want your efforts to be in vain. I buy Philadelphia cream cheese bricks for this cake. I had a bad experience with No Name brand and this recipe before. Also, don’t buy the light cream cheese. If you’re eating a New York cheesecake, you’ve already blown your diet out of the water, so you may as well truly indulge and enjoy yourself.)
• 5 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Step by Step

1. Prepare your cake pan. I use a springform pan with a piece of parchment on the bottom.
2. Combine your graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup sugar, and melted butter. Press firmly into bottom of springform pan and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whip the cream cheese until smooth. This is where it is important to make sure it’s room temperature. If you’re like me, and forgot to pull the cream cheese out the night before then you’re going to find yourself taking much longer with the hand mixer, and wondering why you’ve put yourself in this situation at 7:30 in the morning on a school morning.
4. Add your eggs and egg yolks, ONE at a time. Please take the time to make sure you fully incorporate each egg before adding the next. Small details make a polished product.
5. Add the remaining 1 3/4 cup sugar. Blend it all together, making sure you scrape down the sides as you go.
6. Add the flour and blend it all together.
7. Add the heavy cream and make sure it’s all blended until it’s creamy and silky smooth.
8. Pour your mixture into your pan and gently smooth it out. Be careful not to knock out too much of the volume you just spent time building.
9. Place your cheesecake in a cold oven on the middle rack. I know this goes against your baking intuition, but trust me here. Also, you don’t need to worry about your cake spilling over the pan because we have not added any leavening agents. I can’t promise it won’t leak out the bottom if you haven’t closed your springform pan properly. Not that I’ve ever done that in the past or anything…
10. Gently close the oven door and turn the oven on to 200*F
11. Set a timer for 3 hours and 10 mins
12. Walk away! No peeking!!
13. When your timer goes off, turn it off, but keep the door closed! Still NO PEEKING!
14. Set a timer for an hour. If you forget it in there and leave it for two hours, that’s fine too. Forget about it. Resist the temptation to peek. It’s worth it, I promise.
15. When you remember that you put a cheesecake in the oven hours upon hours ago, or when your timer goes off, it’s finally time to look! Remove the cheesecake from the oven and cover with plastic wrap.
16. Place covered cheesecake in the fridge and leave it for 8-24 hours before serving.

You could put any sort of sauce, berries, or anything on top of this cheesecake really. We did salted caramel this time and it was amazing. Again, you can do it too. Here’s how!

Salted Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, diced and slightly chilled
• 3/4 tsp (or to taste) salt (I used Pink Himalayan because that’s what we had on hand, but Kosher or other large grain salt will do)

How To:

1. Place sugar in a medium saucepan. Add water. Place on medium high heat. Do NOT stir. This is going to drive you crazy but resist the urge! It won’t burn.
2. In a small saucepan, warm cream. Do not scald or boil. You just want it warm
3. Let sugar bubble away and caramelize. It should turn a dark amber colour after about 8-12 minutes.
4. Once your sugar is caramelized, remove it from the heat and whisk in the warm cream.
5. Keep whisking and slowly add your butter. This will smooth it out and stop it from cooking any further.
6. Add your salt and whisk it in.
7. Drizzle warm caramel sauce over cold cheesecake. If you’d like, add a fine dusting of salt on top to garnish.

It’s time to grab a fork and indulge. Seriously. It’s so good. There likely won’t be much conversation as the cake is being devoured!

A couple tips for serving your cheesecake. First, keep it in the fridge until it’s ready to serve. Second, take the time to cut it properly. Run a sharp knife under hot water and give it a quick wipe with a cloth to dry it off. Make one slice. Run the knife under hot water and repeat this again. This is how you end up with a crisp, clean slice of cheesecake.

My photos didn’t turn out the best due to lighting but you’ll get the idea. Mine had wrinkles in it this time, likely because I didn’t bring my cream cheese to room temperature first. That being said, if you start your cake in a cold oven and resist the temptation to peak, you’ll end up with a beautiful cheesecake that will not have deep cracks and crevices. No need to mess with a water bath either! If I can get this cake in the oven on a school morning in our chaotic house, you can surely do it too!

If you happen to make this cake, I’d love to see your photos! Happy indulging!