I gotta say, baking a cheesecake is like a training ground for your patience skills. Not only does it take a long time to bake, it also needs to be refrigerated (preferably overnight).
That’s not exactly easy for me. I am one who restlessly jabs at the elevator button when it doesnt arrive in 2.2 second despite being fully aware that the action is wholly useless.
For this cheesecake however, i battled my demons and victored.
I have heard of the many pittfalls making a cheesecake involve. One of the more common one is the cracked surfaces. I was quite convinced that my cheese cake was going to have Harry Potter’s lightning scar across its surface that i had a backup plan. I made more of the cookie graham cracker base than what was required in the recipe and had every intention to sprinkle it over whatever scars the cheesecake cracked for me.
Like so.
But turned out, i didnt need it! At least for this time
Look ma! No cracks!
So i learnt that to prevent your cheesecake from breaking up on the surface, you have to leave the cheesecake in the oven for hours after it is done baking to ensure that it cools slowly.
A cheesecake which has been left to cool rapidly will crack up (no pun intended) under the pressure.
There is also the issue on under or overcooked cheesecake
An undercooked cheesecake will probably not set, while an overcooked cheesecake would be tough and dry.
I think my cheesecake did ok. It sliced well without being too tough. It was also dreamily creamy and smooth. I guess it’s a beginner’s luck!
But as a general rule of thumb, u want to bake your cheesecake just till the surface jiggles slightly when you shake the pan. It will further set as it cools and firm up when refrigerated.
I have taken the repressed pastry chef’s recipe for this. I think the success of this cheesecake is because of her failproof recipe.
So here is to NYC and its cheesecakes!
