If you have a craving for a delicious and creamy dessert, cheesecake is a perfect choice. This classic dessert features a smooth and flavorful filling made from cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract, all nestled in a graham cracker or cookie crust. With its variety of flavors and toppings, there's a cheesecake recipe out there to satisfy any sweet tooth. Whether you prefer a classic New York-style cheesecake, a tangy key lime cheesecake, or a decadent chocolate cheesecake, this article will help you find the perfect recipe for your next baking adventure.
Let's cook with our recipes!
BASIC CHEESECAKE WITH FLAVOR VARIATIONS.
This is more template than recipe, and you get to create the flavor you want. Use graham cracker, chocolate cookie, or gingersnap crumbs, try vanilla, almond, rum, or fruit flavorings. The sky is the limit, and you don't have to tell anyone you didn't make up the whole recipe all by your own self. Ingredients listed are for a plain cheesecake, see instructions for variations.
Provided by EmmyDuckie
Categories Cheesecake
Time 1h45m
Yield 12 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 12
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 400 for standard baking, or 375 for a convection oven.
- Melt butter, and mix crust ingredients, press into the bottom, and up the sides of a springform pan. You can use whatever size you have from 8 to 12 inches, the smaller the pan, the higher the cake, but I like a wide, low one, too. Chill the crust while you make the filling.
- Cream together cream cheese and sugar.
- Add eggs one at a time.
- Add extracts and zest, mix well, be careful not to incorporate too much air, so you don't get cracks on the top of the custard.
- Pour filling into crust. For better texture, you may choose to first wrap the pan in foil, and place into a large baking dish of hot water. The recipe works both ways, but I like the results from a waterbath.
- Bake the cheesecake for an hour, then turn off the oven, and don't open it for 30 minutes.
- If using sour cream topping, spread it on top of the cheesecake ten minutes before the hour bake time is up.
- Cool cheesecake completely, and refrigerate for a few hours before slicing. Fishing line makes a great slicer, since the cheesecake will be very sticky to your knives.
- Variations: This is the fun part. As long as you stick to the basic proportions, you can do lots of flavors. I'm up to 17 personally.
- Use chocolate cookie crumbs for the crust, leave out the lemon, and add 1/4 cup pf cocoa to the filling for chocolate cheesecake.
- Add a teaspoon of lime zest to the crust, leave out the cinnamon, and sub 1/4 cup key lime juice for vanilla and lemon in the filling for key lime cheesecake.
- Sub one of the packages of cream cheese for a can of pumpkin, add cinnamon, ginger, and clove to the filling, use gingersnap crumbs for the crust. This one is especially good if you add a lot of cinnamon to the sour cream topping, and drizzle the slices with some caramel sauce and more gingersnap pieces.
- Leave out the lemon, and sub one of the packages of cream cheese for a cup of peanut butter, use a chocolate cookie crust, and top it with chopped up peanut butter cups.
- Use a chocolate crust, leave out the lemon, and use mint extract and green food color in the filling for grasshopper cheesecake. Add chocolate chips if you like.
- Sub the sugar in the filling for 1 cup brown sugar caramelized with 1/2 a stick of butter for a caramel cheesecake.
- Sub half the sugar in the crust for sweetened flaked coconut, leave out the cinnamon, sub vanilla and lemon for rum extract and lime, make sour cream topping with half sour cream, half Thai Kitchen coconut milk (it's the only one I've found thick enough) add the juice of the lime instead of lemon and more flaked coconut to topping. this is the one my brother always wants instead of a birthday cake.
- If you try your own variant, I'd love to know what it was, and how it turned out. Have fun!
Nutrition Facts : Calories 554.8, Fat 40.5, SaturatedFat 24.6, Cholesterol 165.1, Sodium 370.1, Carbohydrate 40.9, Fiber 0.5, Sugar 33, Protein 8.8
THE PHILLY 3 STEP CHEESECAKE WITH VARIATIONS
I like to put a variety of toppings on cheesecake. The Philly cheesecake is a perfect one to experiment with. I have included our favorites, but the possibilites are endless!
Provided by MizzNezz
Categories Cheesecake
Time 50m
Yield 8 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 5
Steps:
- Mix cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until creamy.
- Blend in eggs.
- Pour into crust.
- Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.
- Cool, then refrigerate.
- Topping ideas: Cherry pie filling, Blueberry pie filling, Assorted fresh fruits, cut and lightly sugared, Sour cream--place under broiler till bubbly Hot fudge ice cream topping, Caramel ice cream topping.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 265.4, Fat 21, SaturatedFat 12.8, Cholesterol 115.2, Sodium 185.4, Carbohydrate 14.1, Sugar 12.7, Protein 5.8
Tips:
- For a smooth and creamy cheesecake, use high-quality cream cheese and make sure it's at room temperature before mixing.
- Don't overmix the cheesecake batter, as this can cause the cheesecake to be dense and crumbly.
- Bake the cheesecake in a water bath to prevent the top from cracking.
- Allow the cheesecake to cool completely before refrigerating, as this will help it to set properly.
- When making a fruit-based cheesecake, use fresh, ripe fruit for the best flavor.
- For a decadent chocolate cheesecake, use a high-quality chocolate and make sure it's melted and smooth before adding it to the cheesecake batter.
- For a unique and flavorful cheesecake, try using a different type of crust, such as a graham cracker crust, a cookie crust, or a shortbread crust.
- Garnish the cheesecake with fresh fruit, whipped cream, or chocolate shavings for a special touch.
Conclusion:
Cheesecake is a delicious and versatile dessert that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. With so many different variations to choose from, there's sure to be a cheesecake that everyone will love. Whether you're looking for a classic New York cheesecake, a fruity cheesecake, or a chocolate cheesecake, you're sure to find a recipe that you'll enjoy. So next time you're in the mood for a sweet treat, give cheesecake a try!
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