The happy childhood goes like this: The mother unwraps the silver boxes of cream cheese as if they are presents. She beats the soft cheese into pale snowbanks in the bowl. The child crushes the graham crackers with a hammer. Later, she watches the cooling cheesecake with that wistful ache children can have about certain foods. Such moments, repeated through the years, transform simple favorites into profound emblems.
Cheesecake has that kind of power; it also has range. Stamped with an ancient provenance and European pedigree, it’s made with ricotta in Italy, quark (a fresh curd cheese) or farmer cheese in Eastern Europe. And the distinctive texture and clean flavor of classic American cheesecakes comes from silky smooth cream cheese.
Maybe because of their enduring popularity — how often does a dessert engender its own restaurant chain? — cheesecakes often come tricked out like a kid’s birthday cake. But it’s the cheese that defines the dessert.
You can use cream cheese or its Italian cousin, mascarpone. You can use fresh ricotta, quark or “fromage blanc” (a French fresh cheese), farmer cheese or pot cheese, even Greek yogurt or goat cheese.
For sophisticated cheesecakes that are a cut above the expected, look for recipes that match a dominant cheese with a few carefully selected or seasonal ingredients.
Fold tangy and lustrous mascarpone into a batter set on a walnut-graham cracker base and studded with fresh, tart blackberries in a versatile cake from cookbook author Dorie Greenspan.
Or take a cue from Spago pastry chef and cookbook author Sherry Yard, who uses cream cheese and farmer cheese with just a hint of lemon. Her take on the New York cheesecake stems from her own childhood, stamped in Brooklyn.
Yard’s cheesecake, like Greenspan’s, bakes in a springform pan set into a hot water bath, a method used by many chefs and home cooks for custards: because a cheesecake is more like a dense custard than a cake.
“It’s its own category,” Greenspan said.
A simple water bath is a way of regulating temperature, ensuring that the cake cooks evenly.
These cakes are constructed not to fissure and break on the surface, something that can happen if a cheesecake is baked too quickly at too high a temperature.
But things happen, and cheesecake, at heart a homey confection, is adaptive. That thin layer of sour cream that graces the top of some cheesecakes? That almost mathematical arrangement of berries? It’s practical as well as aesthetic.
A cheesecake is not a thing to rush, and this patience applies to the time out of the oven too. Plan to make a cheesecake at least a day before serving it. Cool the cake, then let it set up overnight in the refrigerator. A day, even two, and the flavors come into their own.
The texture of a cheesecake depends a lot on the kind of cheese you use and how you mix the batter. Some ricottas are soft, others grainy; some farmer cheese can be as pliant as goat cheese, others more like feta. Choose the creamiest cheese you can find.
Then you can whip the batter like mad, but do this only if you’re using a type of cheese, like cream cheese, that can take it. (Mascarpone will separate.) Or run the cheese or the finished batter — we suggest doing both — through a fine-mesh strainer or a tamis. This step can make a world of difference.
Like any good cheese, a slice of cheesecake is best at room temperature. But cutting the slices is easier when the cake is chilled; you’ll also get cleaner cuts if you first halve then quarter the cake and so forth, instead of cutting a slice at a time.
Offer your cheesecake with a few complementary end notes, such as toasted nuts or sliced fruit.
Tall and creamy cheesecake
Prep: 45 minutes
Cook: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Chill: 4 hours
Makes: 16 servings
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This recipe is adapted from “Baking: From My Home to Yours,” by Dorie Greenspan.
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 1/3 cups sugar plus 3 tablespoons
1/8 plus 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs, room temperature
1 1/3 cups mascarpone cheese, room temperature
2 cups blackberries
1. For the crust, butter a 9-inch springform pan with sides at least 2 3/4-inches high; wrap the outside of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil. Set aside.
2. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, walnuts, 3 tablespoons of the sugar and 1/8 teaspoon of the salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the melted butter until ingredients are uniformly moist. Press the crust mixture into the prepared pan into an even layer (about 1/4-inch thick) over the bottom and about halfway up the sides. Place pan in the freezer.
3. Place a rack in the center of the oven; heat oven to 350 degrees. Place the prepared pan on a baking sheet; bake 10 minutes. Set crust aside to cool. Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees.
4. Beat the cream cheese at medium speed in a large bowl until soft and creamy, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the remaining 1 1/3 cups of the sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt; continue to beat until the cream cheese is light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Run a spatula along the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is combined. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating a minute between each addition. Lower the mixer speed to low; beat in the mascarpone. Run a spatula through the batter again to make sure everything is evenly incorporated.
5. Place the springform pan in a roasting pan. Pour half of the batter into the springform pan. Gently drop the blackberries over the batter; spoon the remaining batter over the berries. Smooth the top. (Make sure that the batter comes no higher than the top of the pan; you may have a little batter left over.) Place the roasting pan in the oven; pour enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
6. Bake the cheesecake until the top is browned (and perhaps cracked), about 1 1/2 hours. Turn off the oven; prop the door open. Allow the cheesecake to sit in the water bath an additional hour.
7. Remove the roasting pan from the oven; remove the springform pan from its water bath. Carefully remove the foil from the springform pan. Cool the cheesecake to room temperature on a rack. Cover the top of the cooled cake lightly with plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
8. Run a blunt knife around the sides of the pan; warm the sides of the pan lightly with a hair dryer before unmolding. The cake will keep, tightly wrapped, up to one week refrigerated and two months frozen.
Nutrition information
Per serving: 471 calories, 69% of calories from fat, 36 g fat, 20 g saturated fat, 147 mg cholesterol, 31 g carbohydrates, 9 g protein, 252 mg sodium, 1 g fiber
A&S cheesecake
Prep: 35 minutes
Cook: 1 hour
Chill: 7 hours
Makes: 16 servings
This recipe is from “Desserts by the Yard,” by Sherry Yard. Farmer cheese can be found at specialty markets, some natural foods stores and larger supermarkets.
6 ounces soft, creamy farmer cheese
1 pound, 14 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 eggs plus 2 yolks, at room temperature
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup each: sour cream, whipping cream
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1. Place a rack in the upper third of the oven; heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray; line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. spray the parchment. Wrap the outside of the pan with aluminum foil to prevent any water from coming in from the water bath.
2. Press the farmer cheese through a fine-mesh strainer; place in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a large bowl and a hand mixer). Add the cream cheese and sugar; beat on low speed until smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Beat in the lemon juice and vanilla.
3. Beat in the sour cream. Slowly add the whipping cream, beating until blended; stop to scrape down the bowl and paddle every 30 seconds. Gently press the finished batter through a fine-mesh strainer.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Place the pan in a baking or a roasting pan; place on the oven rack. Pour enough hot water into the baking pan to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake 1 hour.
5. Turn off the oven; do not open the oven door. Leave in the oven until cake is golden and set, 45 minutes-1 hour (if you don’t have a window, open the oven door quickly to check). Remove the cake from the oven; remove pan from the water bath to a rack. Cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Chill at least 4 hours in the refrigerator.
6. To serve, run a knife around the inside of the rim of the springform pan; remove the rim. Allow the cake to stand at room temperature 20 minutes before serving.
Nutrition information
Per serving: 333 calories, 73% of calories from fat, 27 g fat, 17 g saturated fat, 147 mg cholesterol, 16 g carbohydrates, 7 g protein, 195 mg sodium, 0 g fiber