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March 2022

Baked Goods

New York-Style Cheesecake

“Because you don’t live near a bakery doesn’t mean you have to go without cheesecake.”

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Hedy Lamarr

Dessert is always in season. I (Blondie) have a love for cheesecake! Especially New York-Style Cheesecake. As you follow our blog you will soon catch on to the fact that I have a big passion for cake, cheesecake, cookies, pie, pudding, and brownies. Yes, I have a big, sweet tooth. I also love to know the history behind the food with which I have become obsessed. When I worked as a manager of a couple different restaurants, I held what we called “pre-shift” for all of our servers and bartenders to attend every evening just before service time to go over the features we were offering our guests that evening. The chef (the Blade) and I would educate them on anything about those offerings that they may not be familiar with as far as preparation techniques, ingredients, wine pairings and history or origin of the offerings that we were featuring. In doing so it helped the servers talk to their guests about what they were trying to sell them and if the item had a great story that they could relay to their guests, even better!

You ask; “What is the difference between a New York-Style Cheesecake as opposed to a cheesecake that does not have the word New York in it?

New York style cheesecake is different from other cheesecakes mainly because of its heavy and very dense texture. Heavy cream or sour cream, cream cheese, and egg yolks cause these signature characteristics of this classic cheesecake along with some different baking techniques such as the high starting temperature of the oven that the cheesecake is placed in to get a golden-brown crust then the oven temperature is lowered which allows for an even bake. The classic New York style cheesecake traditionally is served with no fruit, chocolate, or caramel on the top or along the side. I love a fruit topping for this type of cheesecake especially blueberries due to the lemon in the cheesecake. Lemon and blueberries go hand in hand with their flavor profile.

By the 1900s New Yorkers were in love. Virtually every restaurant had its own version of the cheesecake on their menu. Arnold Rubin is best known for his signature sandwiches. He is also credited for creating the New York- Style Cheesecake. Arnold Rubin was born in Germany and came to America when he was young. (1883-1970) The story goes that Ruben was invited to a dinner party where the hostess served a cheese pie. Allegedly he’s so intrigued by this dish that he experimented with the recipe until he came up with the beloved New York-Style Cheesecake.

Now that you have the back story of this fabulous dessert it’s time to get one in the oven, so you are able to sit down in a few hours and enjoy a nice slice of New Your-Style Cheesecake and tell the story that you just learned about what you are serving to your family and or guests.

Ingredients for the Crust

1 1/2 cups Graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

Ingredients for the Cheesecake

Five 8-ounce packages of softened cream cheese

5 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 and 3/4 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Zest from 1 lemon

This tool, a microplane will make short work of zesting any citrus fruit you need in any recipe. All professional kitchens have these in many different sizes.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Mix Graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup of white sugar, and the melted butter together.

Press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. We have found a 9″ Springform pan is the best size to use when making the New-York Style Cheesecake. The

We like to ensure all of the ingredients of the cheesecake is at room temperature before mixing.

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, eggs, and egg yolks, mix until smooth.

 Add the remaining 1 ¾ cap of white sugar, the flour, heavy cream and lemon zest.

Blend until smooth.

Remember to scrape the sides of the mixing bowl to ensure the batter is mixed well.

Poor cream cheese batter into prepared pan.

Place the unbaked cheesecake on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and place in a preheated oven.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Then turn oven temperature down to 200 degrees and continue baking for one hour or until the filling is set.

Cheesecakes can be a little tricky and a little intimidating when trying to determine when they are done. The rule of thumb for doneness of a cheesecake is to jiggle the pan. If the cheesecake looks nearly set and the center slightly jiggles it is done.

Remove from oven and use a sharp knife to run along the cheesecake and the inside of the pan to help release the cheesecake from the pan to prevent cracking the top of the cheesecake as it cools.

Utensils

All of these utensils will help you execute the making of this cheesecake.

·      Measuring cup for dry ingredients

·      Measuring cup for wet ingredients

·      Measuring spoons

·      Micro plane

·      Parchment paper

·      Mixing bowls

·      Cooling rack

·      Knife

·    Sheet pan

·      9-inch Spring form pan

·     Rubber spatula

·      Stand mixer or hand mixer

·     Food processor

We love getting comments from people that have taken the time to read our blog! We would love to answer any questions you may have or even just toss around different recipes and techniques you may have for us to try. We love learning and meeting new people with the same food and drink passion that we have!

Enjoy the New York-Style Cheesecake!