THE PERFECT CHEESECAKE
What you need
For the base
- 3.5 oz (100 g) digestive biscuits, grinded
- 2 tbs of sugar
- 2 tbs of butter
For the cheese filling
- 2 lbs (900 g) cream cheese
- 10.5 oz (300 g) of sugar
- vanilla essence
- 4 eggs
- a pinch of salt
Before you start
Use a round baking form of 10” (26 cm) with detachable bottom. Grease the baking form with a little butter and line it with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C) with the grill in the middle.
How you do it:
The base
Grind the biscuits in a blender. Melt the butter and pour it in the blender, add the sugar and mix for a few seconds at high speed. The composition must be well bound.
Put everything in the baking form, level it and press with the bottom of a glass, so that you get a compact and uniform layer.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 340F (170C). Remove the baking form from the oven and let it cool while you prepare the cheese filling.
The cheese filling
The cream cheese and the eggs must be at room temperature.
1. In a large bowl put cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Mix at medium speed until you get a homogeneous cream, no more than 2-3 minutes, so as not to remove all the air from the composition. The filling must remain airy and creamy.
2. Add the eggs, one by one, mixing well after each one. Do not forget to pull the composition that jumps on the walls of the bowl with the spatula, so that everything is well homogenized.
3. After the eggs, it’s the turn of the flour, which we add “in the rain” over the composition, mixing gently with a spatula or with the mixer at low speed for a few seconds.
Pour the mixture in the baking dish over the cake base and put it in the oven.
Baking the cheesecake
Bake at 340F (170C) for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 250F (120C) and continue baking for 60-90 minutes.
The baking time depends both on the consistency of the filling (cream cheese has different density and fat content) and on the type of oven. The cheesecake must not bake too quickly, because it will become dry and may even crack. Therefore, 15-20 minutes after reducing the temperature to 250F (120C), you must check the consistency of the cheesecake and adjust the oven temperature, if necessary. The cake will acquire a creamy-yellowish color on top (it must not be brown) and the middle must remain slightly moist, with the consistency of a jelly.
To check, when you move the tray or gently tap on the oven window: the middle of the cake should tremble slightly, like jelly.
After it is baked, take the tray out of the oven and with a knife gently separate the edge of the cheesecake from the walls of the baking dish and let it cool completely. Keep the cake in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.
Serving the cheesecake
The cheesecake can be decorated with fruits, jam, chocolate, caramel, etc. or you can add those when serving it (ex: chocolate or caramel sauce).
I personally prefer it plain and simple or with strawberries in chocolate, which make a great combination with the vanilla cream cheese filling.
Check here our UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE WITH APPLE AND CARAMEL
My favorite cake! 😍