By ShowMeStepByStepPublished
Based on a video by Nick's Kitchen.
New York cheesecake is dense, rich and tangy, and that density is the point. It is not supposed to be light. Almost everything that goes wrong with a homemade one traces back to treating it like a sponge cake: too much air beaten in, too hot an oven, too much faith in the timer.
Nick DiGiovanni has been making this one since he was a kid. Two things separate it from the standard version - the butter in the crust gets browned first, and the sugar gets rubbed with lemon zest before it goes anywhere near the cream cheese.
An optional step that costs five minutes and changes the base from sweet crumb to something nutty and toasted.
Melt the butter and keep going. It foams, then the foam gets fine and golden bits appear on the bottom. Pull it off the heat the moment you see them and pour it straight out, because the pan holds enough heat to take it to burnt.
This is the part where the recipe card lies to you. How much butter the crumbs need depends on your crackers, so add it gradually and judge by texture.
What you want is wet sand. Squeeze a handful and it should just barely hold its shape. Too little butter and the crust crumbles when you slice it. Too much and it goes oily and soggy in the base.
The crust on a New York cheesecake sits on the bottom, not up the sides. Pat it flat and even, then let it creep only slightly up the wall of the pan.
Zest one lemon straight into the sugar, then work them together with your fingertips until the sugar is damp and sandy.
The friction pulls the oil out of the zest and puts it into the sugar, which then carries it through the whole filling. Tossing zest in loose gives you occasional bursts of lemon. Rubbing it in gives you lemon everywhere.
Air is the enemy. Every bubble you beat into the batter expands in the oven, pushes the top up, then collapses as it cools. That is what cracks a cheesecake.
Keep the mixer on low the entire time, including when the eggs go in. Add them one at a time and stop as soon as each disappears. Room temperature eggs incorporate faster, which means less mixing.
Give the filled pan a few gentle taps on the counter before it bakes to bring any remaining bubbles up and out.
Cheesecake is a custard. High heat sets the outside while the middle is still raw, and the tension between the two is what tears the surface open.
Low and slow, on a sheet tray so you can move it in and out without flexing the springform. It is done when the edges look set and the centre still has a slight wobble. It firms up as it cools.
No recipe needed: berries, a little sugar, a splash of water. Simmer until the berries start to burst, then thicken with a cornstarch slurry.
Lemon zest and a squeeze of juice at the end brightens it and ties it back to the lemon in the filling. A spoonful of shop-bought jam stirred through gives it that glossy, slightly artificial cling that is hard to get at home, if that is the look you want.
If this one worked out, these run on the same ideas:
10 steps · about 8 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
Melt your butter in a pan over medium heat and keep going past the melt. It will foam up and bubble, and then golden brown bits will appear on the bottom.
The moment you see them, take the pan off the heat and pour the butter into a bowl. Left in the hot pan it goes from brown to burnt in seconds.
Tip
This step is optional. Plain melted butter makes a fine crust, but browning it adds a nuttiness that carries through the whole cheesecake.
Break the graham crackers into a food processor and pulse until no large pieces remain. Add a sprinkle of salt and a touch of sugar and pulse again.
Then drizzle the brown butter in slowly while you keep pulsing. Stop when the crumbs look and sound like wet sand and just barely hold together when you squeeze a handful.
Tip
Add the butter gradually and judge by feel. Too little and the crust crumbles when sliced; too much and the base turns oily.
Check the springform clip is properly locked before anything goes in, then tip the crumbs into the base.
Pat them flat and even across the bottom and let them come only slightly up the sides. A New York cheesecake crust lives on the base, not the wall.
A flat-bottomed glass or measuring cup presses it flatter and more evenly than fingers will, though fingers work.
Put the pan on a sheet tray and bake for a couple of minutes while you make the filling. This sets the crust so it does not dissolve into the batter.
Let it cool for a few minutes before the filling goes in.
Tip
The sheet tray is worth using from here on. It lets you move the pan without flexing the springform base.
Zest a whole lemon into your sugar, then rub the two together between your fingertips until the sugar turns damp and sandy.
This pulls the oil out of the zest and puts it into the sugar, so the lemon runs through the entire filling instead of showing up in occasional bursts.
Break the cream cheese up in the mixer until it is smooth and even, then add the lemon sugar and mix again.
Follow with the juice from half a lemon, the sour cream, vanilla bean paste and a small pinch of salt. Keep the mixer on low the whole time.
The vanilla bean paste is worth it over extract - it gives the speckled look through the finished slice.
Tip
Low speed only. Air beaten in now expands in the oven and collapses as it cools, and that is what cracks the top.
Crack in four eggs, adding them one at a time and letting each fully disappear before the next goes in. Stay on low speed.
Use room temperature eggs. They incorporate faster, which means less mixing, which means less air.
Scrape the bowl down at the end so nothing unmixed is hiding at the bottom.
Pour the filling over the cooled crust. It should be loose enough to settle level on its own without much spreading.
Give the pan a few gentle taps on the counter to bring trapped bubbles to the surface, then bake it low and slow until the edges are set and the centre still has a slight wobble.
Tip
A few small lumps of unmixed cream cheese in the batter are not a fault. They bake into creamy pockets in the finished slice.
Put berries, a little sugar and a splash of water in a pan over medium high heat. Once it bubbles at the edges, turn it down and let it go until the berries start to burst.
Add lemon zest and a generous squeeze of juice, then stir in a cornstarch slurry made with a little cornstarch and hot water to thicken it.
Tip
A spoonful of shop-bought berry jam stirred in gives it a glossier cling that is difficult to get from fruit alone.
Let the cheesecake cool completely, then chill it before you release the springform. Warm cheesecake will not slice cleanly.
Cut with a warm dry knife, wiping it between slices, and spoon the berry sauce over each piece as you serve.
Tip
It is better on day two. The texture tightens and the flavours settle overnight in the fridge.
Keep going
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