New York cheesecake is a baked cake: dense cheese filling on a biscuit base. Typical failures are cracks on top, a sunken centre and a wet, under-baked slice. They all come down to temperature and how much air you whipped into the batter.
What it is made of
Top to bottom:
- Cheesecake filling 5.0 cm
Tall and creamy, about 5 cm
- Biscuit crumb base 1.5 cm
A thin support of biscuits and butter
Just two layers. The base of biscuit and butter holds the shape and gives crunch; the filling of cream cheese, eggs, sugar and cream sets in the oven thanks to the eggs.
An honest note: a true New York cheesecake often adds sour cream or a thick dairy layer and some starch, with a berry sauce on top. This version has cream cheese, eggs, sugar and cream and nothing else. It is a little lighter in feel and denser, with more pure cheese flavour. Sour cream would make it tangier and softer.
Order of work
Base: biscuits crushed fine and mixed with melted butter until like damp sand. Press into the tin and bake 8 to 10 minutes so the base sets and does not go soft under the filling.
Filling: cream cheese, eggs and cream at room temperature, or lumps stay in the batter. Mix on low speed and briefly: air whipped in lifts the filling in the oven, then it falls and cracks. Add the eggs one at a time.
Baking: low heat, about 150 to 160 °C, and a humid oven: stand the tin in a dish of hot water (a water bath). The steam keeps the surface soft, so fewer cracks. The sign it is ready: the edges are set and the centre still trembles like jelly. It will finish setting as it cools. Time depends on the tin and the oven, usually an hour or more.
Cooling is half the job. Turn the oven off and leave the cake inside with the door ajar for a few hours: a sudden temperature drop cracks the surface. Then chill 6 to 12 hours in the fridge. Do not slice it warm. Cut with a knife dipped in hot water and wipe it after each slice.
What can go wrong
- Cracks. Too much air in the batter, too much heat, or cooling too fast.
- Sunken centre. Over-beaten or over-baked, or the oven door was opened.
- Lumps in the filling. The cheese was cold.
- Soggy base. Not pre-baked, or the tin leaked into the water bath.
The verdict
Three things decide cheesecake: room-temperature cheese, little air in the batter and slow cooling.