New York Cheesecake

So I guess I am on a dessert streak lately. Fact is, I cook dinners all the time, but they're not always noteworthy. Anyway, some friends were in town from Israel and we all had dinner at the Davis' and I was bringing dessert. I've been poking around on Smitten Kitchen for something special to make for Scott's Birthday. He just returned from NY and didn't bring me any cheesecake (okay, it's a little hard to do) so when I saw this beauty, I couldn't resist.

This is essentially the recipe from the Smitten Kitchen website, but before I give it to you, I'll share  the changes I've made. First the recipe calls for the cheesecake to bake at 550 degrees for 12 minutes. She fudged with this and had some trouble. Unfortunately, my oven only went to 500. So, I figured I would have to try it at 500. At around 8 minutes, you could tell the outer edge was starting to set, but the top was also browning, so I turned the temperature down to 200 at that point. Luck would have it I still hadn't found a recipe for Scott's birthday and so as I was baking the cheesecake I turned upon a cheesecake recipe from Cook's Ilustrated that said the way to keep a cheesecake from cracking is to make sure the internal temperature doesn't rise above 150 degrees. So, when I checked my cake (using an instant read thermometer) at about an hour and 20, it was in the 130 degree range. I let it go for another 40 minutes or so (remember we're cooking at 200 degrees) until it was just about 150. The center was more than a little wobbly, but it set nicely when it was cooled and was very creamy. Compared to several other recipes I have found where there is a water bath and several other tricks to keep things creamy and un-cracked, this was super easy and the texture was great.
For the topping I used fresh cherries and initially it seemed like it was going to be too thick, but I cooled it with a lid on top and after some refrigeration they loosened.  I've increased the topping to a 1 1/2 recipe because the original recipe was not enough to cover the cake.


Crumb crust
8 ounces (15 4 3/4 x 2 1/2-inch sheets of graham cracker) finely ground graham crackers
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

filling:
5 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
5 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cherry topping
15 ounces cherries, pitted (they’re not in season here so I used frozen; worked just fine)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar, add more to taste if using sour cherries
1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
3/4 cup water

Make crumb crust: Stir together crust ingredients and press onto bottom and up the sides, stopping one inch shy of the top rim, of a buttered 9 1/2-inch (or 24 cm) springform pan. You can fill it right away but I like to pop my into the freezer so it quickly sets while I prepare the filling.

Make very tall cheesecake filling: Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Beat together cream cheese, sugar, flour and zest with an electric mixer until smooth. Add vanilla, then eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated. Scrape bowl down between additions.

Put springform pan with crust in a shallow baking pan (to catch drips). Pour filling into crust (springform pan will be completely full) and bake in baking pan in the middle of the oven for 8-12 minutes or until puffed. Please watch your cake because some ovens will top-brown very quickly and if yours does too fast, turn the oven down as soon as you catch it. Reduce the temperature to 200 degrees and continue baking until cake is about 145 degrees (about 1 1/2 to 2 hours).
Run a knife around the top edge of the cake to loosen it and cool the cake completely in springform on a rack, then chill it, loosely covered, at least 6 hours.

Make cherry topping (optional): Place all ingredients together in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, cook it for an additional one to two minutes then remove from heat. Cool completely.
Remove side of pan and transfer cake to a plate.
Spread topping over chilled cheesecake.

This cheesecake is best if let to sit out for about an hour before serving.

Cheesecake keeps, covered and chilled, 2 weeks.