New York Cheesecake

Turtle Cheesecake

Desserts… Oh I love to make them.. You would think by looking at me I love to eat them too but no.. I might take a piece  of cake to see if it turned out the way I wanted or eat a cookie out of the six dozen I make but my true joy is watching other people scarf it down. (and for them to get fat muuuhhaaaaa) I shy away from decorated cakes unless it is for my kids, nephews or nieces birthday because really I can’t conquer that piping thingamajig that just over all baffles me.. I would love too and one day I will take a class on cake decorating but for now I just stick with drizzling chocolate over a bunt cake..  or sticking army men in a battle scene on top of a sheet cake.

 To me looks is nice but taste and texture is so much more important…. A chocolate cake needs to be dense and moist. An angel food cake needs to be light yet full of flavor and not leave that bitter after taste that so many of those packaged and store bought cakes leave. A cheesecake needs to be light, smooth and creamy and leave you wanting more… The latter is my favorite cake to make, with only five ingredients you can have a elegant cake that can be covered in fresh fruit or merely eaten plain.

 And they look pretty too!

I’m throwing a baby shower this week and even though it isn’t the norm to have cheesecakes for the dessert I knew I was going to be pressed for time and cheesecakes is the perfect dessert. I usually like to wait at least 48 hours after I make them to serve and this way I can do them a day or two ahead of time and still have time to get behind on all the other stuff. No Knead Bread is another make-ahead recipe that I love for times like this.

I make mine with a shortbread crust...

I forgotten to take the pictures of making of the crust so this is after I have made the dough (recipe follows) greased the pans and patted my crust into them.

                          Prick holes on the bottom of your crust with a fork...
                 

 Bake at 425 for 15 mins..

                                                             Tada!!

                Here we have our cream cheese, sugar, eggs, flour and whipping cream.  

In a large mixing bowl have your cream cheese, flour  and sugar  (remove child)

Mix well on low speed.. Cheesecakes crack when there is too much air whipped into them.. they also crack when they are cooked at high temps too, or if you don’t grease your pans, cooled down to fast, the wind is blowing from the west or if you sneeze when you first wake up in the morning.. but the beauty of cheese cake is you can cover it with anything and it tastes the same with cracks and with out them…  

Scrape down the sides of your bowl and add five eggs one at a time scraping down the bowl after each egg..

Add two egg yolks.. mix well

Add ½ cup of heavy whipping cream ( if you don’t have whipping cream half & half works just as good but I had some to make buttermilk with)

Pour into pan and bake at 425 for 10 minutes then reduce heat to 200 and cook for 1 hour.

The middle of the cheesecake will be jiggling ( like my thighs) once your hour is up but just turn the oven off and leave the cheese cake in with the door cracked for anouther hour.. since I have little fingers that stick into everything I leave mine in with the door closed until I remember it several hours later and then finally wrap it up and put it in the fridge..

Cheesecake with Raspberry sauce

                 

Print Recipe

Recipe:  

Shortbread crust:

1 1/4 Cups All-purpose Flour

1/3 Cup White Sugar

1 Stick Of Butter

1 Egg Yolk

Directions:



Combine 1 1/4 cups flour, 1/3 cup sugar and one stick of butter in food processor. mix till small crumbs form. Add egg yolk and mix until you can form the dough into a ball. I like to pick up my processor and tilt in back and forth to throughly mix.. if one egg yolks doesn't work ( and it never for me because I am a sloby messurer) add one more. Spread to the edges of the pan. Prick all over with a fork, then bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees F.



Cheesecake:

2 1/2 Pounds Cream Cheese, Softened

1 3/4 Cups White Sugar

3 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour

5 Eggs

2 Egg Yolks

1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

Directions:

 In a large bowl, Beat cream cheese, until smooth add 1 3/4 cups sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, then one at a time add 5 eggs and the yolks and mix thoroughly. Stir in the cream and mix only enough to blend.

Pour filling over crust and bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees F. Reduce temperature to 200 degrees F. and continue to bake for one hour. Turn oven off, but leave cake in for another hour