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Baking Expert
Catherine Christiansen
Glorious Cheesecake
Creamy, tangy and ultra-indulgent, cheesecake tops the “favorite dessert” list for many of us. It’s been around since the ancient Greeks when pounded cheese, honey and sweet flour fed the Olympians. But Americans may have created the ne plus ultra in cheesecake, when cream cheese was created at the turn of the last century in Philadelphia.
Cheesecakes can be sweet or savory, using all manner of cheeses including ricotta, Neufchatel, cottage cheese or even cheddar. The recipes below focus on the more traditional American cream cheese-based dessert. All but the first recipe should be cooked in a bain marieor water bath, which ensures an evenly creamy texture and reduces the chance of curdling or the dreaded cracks that often mar the top of cheesecake. Don’t let the crazy French name fool you—using a bain marie is a simple process that involves wrapping your springform pan in heavy-duty aluminum foil so it’s watertight then placing the springform within a large, shallow pan of water. (See our illustrated How-To to learn more.) The bain marie pampers the cheesecake with a gentler, more even heat than ordinary baking.
We begin with a traditional recipe with German roots that came from an Italian neighbor. Go figure. Either way, it’s unquestionably a winner. The cake is based on Käsekuchen, a German cheesecake made of Quark cheese (a mild, chalky cheese we have no intention of using here). In this version, velvety cream cheese teams up with lemon and orange zest in a delicate pastry crust. This cheesecake takes a bit of time, but the results have been known to garner marriage proposals. Classically baked without a bain-marie, this cake gets an initial blast of high oven heat, followed by a long, slow bake at a gentler temperature. The result is extraordinarily smooth and creamy.
The second recipe marries sweet-sour key limes with plush white chocolate. It’s important to use either fresh or bottled key lime juice; regular lime juice will send the cake into bitter-sour territory. Using a bain marie(water bath) produces an exquisitely creamy filling within the toasted coconut, macadamia and graham cracker crust.
Go ahead and take a slice of this third cheesecake to the movies. It will go splendidly with popcorn. Loaded with Junior Mints, peppermint extract and semisweet chocolate, it also gives you a chance to practice your marbling technique. Don’t like mint? This basic marbled cheesecake recipe lends itself to an infinite number of flavorings. Try toffee, chocolate bits, malted milk balls, peanut butter cups—get as crazy as you like!
Old-School Secret Recipe Cheesecake
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Key Lime Cheesecake
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Chocolate Mint Swirl Cheesecake
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