Cheesecake

Recipe

Time

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Baking time: 45-60 minutes

Cooling time: 8 hours

Ingredients
Tools
Preparation

Before you begin, take the cream cheese out of the refrigerator and let it heat up a little. This is to make it easier to mix later. Do not take it out of its packaging.

First we make the crust. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have whole graham crackers, place them in a plastic bag and user a rolling pin to crush them. Place the graham cracker crumbs in a large bowl. Melt the butter and add to the graham cracker crumbs.1 Mix with your hands. If the mixture is soggy, you used too much butter. If it does not hold together well, you need more. Press the mixture into the bottom and sides of the pie pan. Stick it into the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. You can let it cool on the counter.

Now we make the cheesecake batter. Combine the cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Mix on high speed until everything is blended.2

We need to separate the eggs. This will allow the cream cheese to have the correct texture. Put the egg whites in a large bowl. Make sure is absolutely no egg yellow or water in the bowl. Add a pinch of sugar. Completely clean off and dry the mixer beaters. Now beat the egg whites on high speed until they form stiff peaks. You will need a mixer for this, since this is nearly impossible to do by hand. When you pull the beaters out of the eggs, they should retain their form.

Add the egg yellows to the cheesecake batter and blend them in. Add about 1/4 to 1/3 of the egg whites to the mixture and blend them in as well. The mixture should be somewhat viscous. Now, take the spatula and fold the rest of the egg whites in.3 Do not use a mixer. When the all of the egg whites are folded in, pour the mixture into the pie pan. Smooth with the spatula, but do not worry too much about it being perfect. It will smooth itself out. The mixture should top off the pie pan a little. It should form a very low dome.

Baking

Set the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for about 45 minutes.4 During the baking, the cheesecake will rise. This will allow it to smooth out. The cheesecake is done when the middle jiggles a little when you shake it. Turn off the oven, and open the over door, but let the cheesecake cool for 15 minutes inside the oven. Take it out and place it on the counter. Let it cool for several hours, or until the pan it warm to the touch. The cheesecake will partially set during this time. Put the cheesecake in the refrigerator and let it cool over night. It will complete and smooth out.

Notes

  1. The are several ways to melt the butter. Most people stick it in the microwave. This could cause the butter to explode if you are not careful. Alternatively, heating it over a stove works well, as long as you watch it and keep it from burning. While the butter will be hot, it will cool rapidly when it hits the graham cracker crumbs. At this point it is faster to use your hands rather than a spoon.
  2. When mixing the batter, it will tend to splatter. Start slow, perhaps with a wisk or desert spatula. If you add the egg yolk before the mixture is smooth, you will have raw egg all over your kitchen.
  3. Folding involves taking some of the egg whites and cutting them into the mixture. Then, fold parts of the mixture over until the egg whites are incorporated. Do not use a mixer here or you will destroy all of the air bubbles in the egg whites.
  4. The cheesecake will not look done when it is done. It should jiggle a little. If you keep it in the oven too long, it will burn around the outside and crack. Aesthetics aside, it should still be good enough to serve.

Recipe based on http://video.about.com/southernfood/Cheesecake-Recipe.htm.