Cheesecakes

Cheesecakes have a filling made from cream cheese, cottage cheese or ricotta cheese mixed with eggs, sugar, and other flavorings. The crust can be made from graham cracker crumbs, wafer crumbs, gingersnaps, finely groundnuts, or pastry. Should be baked in a spring form pan or cheesecake pan and can have a layer of sour cream on top. The texture varies from light and airy: to heavy and rich. As for example, the New York Cheesecake is rich and heavy.

Cracks on the surface of a baked cheesecake is a common problem caused when too much moisture is lost as the cheesecake bakes. This is from over baking which is easy to do, as it is difficult to determine when a cheesecake is done baking. This is because the center (a 2-3-inch (5-7 cm) circle) of the cheesecake will still be wobbly when done and there is a tendency to want to bake it a little longer. However, even though the center does not look baked, once it cools, it will firm up and be the correct consistency.

Cheesecakes that have no starch in them and are baked in a water bath at a low temperature. This results in a wonderfully smooth and creamy cheesecake. (Make sure you wrap the cheesecake pan in aluminum foil before placing in the water bath to prevent leakage.) Some cheesecake recipes that are not baked in a water bath benefit from placing a shallow pan of hot water on the bottom shelf of the oven to increase the oven's humidity. In addition, greasing the cheesecake pan will also help prevent the cheesecake from cracking. As the cheesecake, cools it will shrink and if the pan is greased the cheesecake will not stick to the sides, causing cracking.