An old New York cheesecake recipe

I created this blog 3 years ago but I hadn't posted anything. In fact, when I thought about writing something I couldn't find it or remember if I had the title right. Today I was going through an on-line recipe that I had used for years and I thought I would post it here.

www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/89/Cheesecake-Plain-New-York-Style

This is the cheesecake I made. It was a very good cheesecake but I had problems with it burning on the top as it had a very high initial temperature when baking. I went through many of the comments and found this helpful and I hope it helps you. Give it a try and see what you think.

On August 11, 2005 at 06:24 AM, an anonymous reader said...
Re: cracking

"In my experience, cracking occurs when the cake spends too much time baking at too high a temperature, but that doesn't necessarily mean the interior is overdone. I've done tests keeping the oven at an even 300-350 for the whole baking time, and the cakes cracked like the devil even though the final color and texture were good. The problem lies in the fact that the filling doesn't cook uniformly."

"Solidity starts at the outer surfaces, then works its way in. Cracks occur when the solid layer at the top is about 1cm thick and the filling has puffed enough that the surface is fully domed. Basically, the custard can't stretch enough to take the stress (custards are notorious for low tensile strength), so it breaks and you get a panful of tasty fault lines."

"Puffing does *not* occcur uniformly, though. It starts as a ring around the edge of the pan and then moves in to the center. The trick to getting a good, light cheesecake is to have the puffing stop just as it reaches the center, then maintain that level of puff while the rest of the filling solidifies. Give the cake too much heat, and it will crack. Give it too little, and it will collapse.. you'll end up with a bowl-shaped, crumpled top."

"The key to controlling puff is knowing when to switch the oven from 500 down to 200. You don't want to wait until the top is fully domed, because the filling will continue to puff while the oven temperature falls, and you'll get cracks. Nor do you want to drop the temperature too early, because the center won't puff and you'll end up with a bowl. 10 minutes is a decent rule of thumb, but really, you have to watch the cake."

"I personally drop to to 200 when the un-puffed zone at the center is about 4-5cm in diameter. That happens to be the sweet spot for the cakes I usually make. Your mileage will vary based on the diameter of your pan, the depth of the filling, the amount of air you've whipped into the filling, humidity, your oven, the phase of the moon, and who knows what else. Just assume that your first two or three cakes will be ranging shots, and figure out what works best for you."

"That bit of timing is the 'secret' of cheesecake, though."

mike stone