by Stef Jantz, Food Columnist
Here it comes, that slice of heaven. Your mouth waters as it’s set in front of you, and you grab your fork. It’s something that you eat slowly, methodically. You sink your fork into that pointy edge, bring it to your mouth, and you close your eyes savoring that sweet, creamy concoction. You sigh in content and smile.
Mmmmm…..cheesecake.
It’s a long-time dessert that’s at the top of so many people’s list. Well, unless your lactose intolerant. I really hate that for you if that’s the case. Cheesecake comes in so many different forms and flavors and believe it or not, pretty easy to make. I taught one of my employees to make one and she couldn’t believe how easy it was. It’s a dessert I could barely keep on my shelves and have made over and over, and will never stop loving or creating.
It all started in the Island of Samos over 4,000 years ago, created by the Greeks. They started pounding cheese into a paste, added honey, then put it into a crust of wheat. It was baked, cooled, then consumed. Pretty cool, huh? I just learned that too. There’s a lot more information on it that’s really interesting, so if you want to learn more, check out cheesecake.com.
Let’s get back to this dreamy cake. The flavors and forms are absolutely endless. So, want to learn how to make one? Let’s go! Got a springform pan handy? What on earth is a springform pan crazy lady?
If you’ve never used one, it has many purposes besides making cheesecakes, and handy to have in your cabinet. It’s a round pan that has a latch on the side and holds a flat pan for the bottom. When you unlatch it, the two come apart. It releases your cake so you’re not digging utensils into it and destroying that tasty thing. If you don’t have one, that’s ok! You can still use something like an 8×8 square pan and you’ll end up with bars.
It all tastes the same.
Next, think of a flavor you want to make. Don’t think of just the cheese flavor, think of the crust flavor too. I love using Nilla wafers instead of graham crackers personally. It’s a softer cookie and less crumbly when used as a crust, but you can use any cookie you want.
Oreos? Go for it. Shortbread? Oh yeah!
Now, if you’re using a springform pan, I recommend putting parchment paper over the bottom part and then put the ring over to latch it. Makes for easier removal since the bottom has a lip to secure into the ring. If you’re using a square pan, you can put foil or paper in there if you want to or not.
Ok, you need to crush your cookies. You can do this by crushing them in a food processor or put them in a bag and pound the shape out of them. You’re also going to need to melt some butter so your crumbs stick together. Depending on how dry your cookie is, depends on how much butter you use.
If you’re using Oreos, you don’t need much butter since it’s made of a lot of shortening in the first place and it’ll melt through the crack of the pan. When I use Nilla Wafers, I melt about six tablespoons of butter. Something to guide you off of. So, your cookies are crushed, butter melted, pan set up. Pour the butter over the crumbs or vice versa and mix it. When you squeeze a handful and they clump together, you’re good to go.
Next, pour that mix into your prepared pan. You want to pile most of the crumbs along the sides of the pan, then press them against the wall. Keep pressing until you have the crust along the inside ring, and then press the bottom to finish off the crust. Goodness, I wish I had a video. Voila! Pop that prepared crust into an oven for 5-10 minutes on 350. While that’s baking let’s get your cheese going.
We’ll do the regular version. You’re going to want four 8 ounce bricks of cream cheese, that’s if you have an 8 inch springform pan. I should’ve mentioned there’s different sizes. Either way, five bricks is just as good. Rule of thumb here is one fourth cup of sugar and one egg per 8 ounces of cream cheese. So, if you have four bricks then it’s one cup of sugar and four eggs, five bricks is one and a quarter cups of sugar and five eggs. Using either a mixer or hand mixer, whip up your cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed. It’s usually a teaspoon of vanilla but I just pour some in real quick. Whatever you’re comfortable with. Cream that up really good scraping the sides down so you got it all good and mixed.
Then, add your eggs one at a time. If you have your mixer too high, you risk the chance of over mixing and it’ll crack in the center during baking time, but I also have a step to avoid that too.
Now that it’s all mixed, pour it into your prepared crust. Smooth it out and then, you’re going to need two pieces of foil to wrap around your pan. Not all the way around but you need it to cover the sides no less than an inch.
Done?
Now, get a large pan like a roasting pan or even a cookie tray and place your cake on it. You’re going to put water in this pan so you can put it in there before it goes in the oven or after you place it on the middle rack of the oven. You want about a half inch of water surrounding your pan, hence the reason I say two pieces of foil, because foil tears so easily, water can seep into your pan and making your crust a soggy, gross mess.
Who wants a soggy crust? I mean, the cheesecake part is still edible but the crust, blah! I’ve done this before and it’s very disheartening. So, you’re set!
Bake that puppy at 325 for and hour and a half, but if you’re using a square pan, try an hour. Depending on how much cheese you used and how wide your springform pan is, will decipher on if you need to bake it longer.
Once your timer goes off, check and see if the top is a light, very light, golden brown. You also need to do the jiggle test. Kind of jerk the oven rack, with oven mitts of course, and see how much the center jiggles. It can jiggle slightly but if it moves too much throughout the cake, bake it a little longer for maybe 10 minutes.
Once it’s done though, it needs to cool a few hours and then up to eight hours in the fridge. Pull that baby out of the fridge and unlatch the side. Do this slowly and carefully. Sometimes your crust will stick to the sides. If it’s sticking to a side and not the rest, tap it lightly to release.
There you go. One beautiful and tasty cheesecake all to yourself. Maybe share some.
If you’re feeling good about making another one, check out all the extracts available and go from there, or choose a topping like melted caramel and a sprinkle of kosher salt. That’s my personal favorite. Now get out there and have fun with it!
RECIPE:
1 ½ c. cookie or graham cracker crumbs
6 TBSP butter, melted
4 (8oz each) cream cheese
1 c. sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
*Heat oven to 325 degrees
*Mix crumbs and melted butter, press into pan
*Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until blended. Add eggs one at a time.
*Pour into crust and bake 1hr 25 min
Stef’s updated biography:
Born and raised in Iowa and the youngest of five. Growing up was slightly rough so we compromised quite a bit. I was 9 years old and hungry, so I went into the kitchen and looked around. Ramen was something always available, so I put a pot of water on the stove and boiled water. Every time I made ramen, I would use a different spice to see what it did for the flavor. The following year I tried cookies. I realized that with baking, it was more of a chemistry project, and everything went from there.
I am now a disabled veteran and had served 8 years in the navy. Proud Seabee, Construction Mechanic 2nd Class.
I still consider myself an amateur because even after teaching myself for 25+ years, I completely screw up recipes. I know every baker has their own recipe and their own way, so I try to make things easier for beginners. For me, it’s more of a common sense thing that comes naturally and my only hope is to motivate and instill confidence in those who shy away from something that’s easier than they thought.
