My husband is on a quest for a cheesecake recipe that spirits me away to the New York City delis of my youth. He's tried before, to no avail. This time I fear, if I don't help him along, I'll be eating cheesecake for Thanksgiving instead of pumpkin pie.
My idea of cheesecake differs from his entirely. First, cheesecake should not have graham crackers, period. Graham crackers are for s'mores. Second, cheese cake should be moist, but not creamy. The texture should be drier, closer to the mouth feel of ricotta than of cream cheese.
I'd be happy with a ricotta cheesecake. (My favorite comes from the Florentine Bakery in Utica, New York where I grew up.) But for an authentic New York Cheesecake, I think we're looking for a recipe that calls for farmer cheese, a dry cottage cheese that I remember eating occasionally as a child. I haven't seen it in years.
As a starting point, my husband tried the Upstate Cheesecake recipe from Baked. But that recipe was as far away from my ideal, as Upstate is from Manhattan. If you have any suggestions, we're all ears!
Upstate Cheesecake
Ingredients:
For the simple graham crust:
2-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 20 crackers)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick unsalted butter, softened
For the cream cheese filling:
40 ounces (five 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, softened
1-3/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (from about 1 lemon)
1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
5 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
Directions:
Make the simple graham crust:
1. Lightly spray a 9-inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Put the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a large bowl. Beat, by hand, until well combined. Press the mixture into the bottom and all the way up the sides of the prepared pan. Put in the refrigerator while you make the filling.
Make the cream cheese filling:
1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, sugar, flour, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Beat on medium speed until just combined, being careful not to overbeat (too much air can cause cheesecakes to crack). Add the eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the cream and beat until incorporated.
3. Pour the mixture into the chilled crust and bake for 10 minutes. Open the oven door to let out some heat, and lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake until the cheesecake is set around the outside, but still slightly wobbly in the center, 45 minutes to 1 hour, rotating the pan every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and spread the sour cream over the top of the cheesecake. Return to the oven for 5 more minutes. Turn off the heat, crack the oven door, and let the cheesecake cool completely in the oven (about 1 hour).
4. Chill the cheesecake in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, loosen the sides of the crust from the pan with an offset spatula, then remove the springform sides and serve.
Yield: 1 (8-inch) cake
Baked, Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2008
--Tracy Schneider