Light and Airy Cheesecake

Cheesecake – a divine cake – how many times have I reminisced over, thought about, and made cheesecake - at least 5 documented here on this blog.  I love cheesecake and I am always willing to try a new version of cheesecake for different flavor profiles to textures.  This time I wanted a light and airy cheesecake that was tall, creamy and so light that it defied its principal ingredient, cream cheese.  This cheesecake not only met my requirements but exceeded them.  It is light and airy but maintains the classic flavor of cheesecake.

If light and creamy doesn't inspire, you may be interested in my other versions of cheesecake:

   Marble Cheesecake

   Manhattan Cheesecake   

   Pumpkin Cheesecake  

   Cheesecake Bars

Light and Creamy Cream Cheese Cheesecake

16 servings,

Crust

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter, melted

Butter a 9-inch spring form pan and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil.

Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl (I crush in the food processor).

Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. Empty the ingredients into the buttered spring form pan and pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan using a flat bottomed measuring cup going about halfway up the sides.

Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven.

Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350°F and place the spring form on a baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.

Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

Cheesecake

2 pounds (four 8-ounce boxes) cream cheese, at room temperature

1 1/3 cups sugar

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 1/3 cups heavy cream

Put a kettle of water on to boil.

Working in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is soft and creamy about 4 minutes.

With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light.

Beat in the vanilla.

Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition to aerate batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir in the heavy cream.

Put the foil-wrapped spring form pan in a roaster pan.

Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure that nothing has been left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape the batter into the spring form pan. The batter will reach the brim of the pan.

Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the spring form pan.

Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top will be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven's heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon.

Let the cheesecake stand in the water bath for another hour.

Remove pan from oven without upsetting water too much.

Remove foil carefully.

Place cheesecake on wire rack until at room temperature.

Cover the top loosely with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 5 hours.

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan,

Marble Cheesecake

Cheesecake is a wonderful sensory experience - it is gorgeous to behold, the smell is inviting, the texture has a creamy denseness that is so satisfying.  Elegant and fancy with a history stretching back to ancient Greece, cheesecake is made from the humble workhorse - cream cheese - the variations are limited only by the imagination.  

Marble Cheesecake

makes 1 9-inch cheesecake

5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

5 large eggs

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¼ cup heavy cream

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate melted and cooled

Boiling water as needed

Crust
1 3/4 cup chocolate wafer cookie crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons melted butter

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. 
Grease a 10-inch spring-form. Wrap pan bottom with double layer of aluminum foil.
In a Cuisinart with blade inserted,  pulse cookies until they are a fine crumb, or use a rolling pin and the cookies in a zip lock bag.
Add the sugar, salt and melted butter and pulse a few more times until combined.
Dump the contents into the spring-form and pat into and even layer going halfway up the sides.
Bake for 9 minutes.

For the the Cheesecake:
Reduce oven to 325 degrees F.

Set some water to boil.

In a large mixing bowl, beat on low speed the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. Add the whole eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, beating well at low speed after each addition.

Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Pour two-thirds of the batter into the spring-form pan. 

Mix the melted chocolate with the remaining batter.

Add dollops of the chocolate batter on top.  
Using a knife, create a marble pattern by dragging the knife through the cheesecake in a several circles then running the knife in straight lines to the center. 

Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. 

Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature.
Refrigerate for 3 hours or until well chilled.

Manhantten Style Cheesecake

The first cheesecake that I ever made was from this recipe.  I was a teenager and discovering the power of baking.  I was greatly influenced by my own mother and  many family members who enjoy baking.  My cousin made a cheesecake like dessert with fruit on top, possibly called fruit pizza that was just delicious and then, at another family event, my aunt made a cheesecake. Cheesecake to this point had not been part of my family's dessert experience but this cheesecake caused a buzz around the family - recipes were exchanged and cheesecakes were made.  My mom purchased a springform pan and made a fruit topped cheesecake for a luncheon with friends that was so rich, delicious, heavy and dense.  I couldn't wait to try it myself. It was an empowering concept that I could make, really make, any of the wonderful desserts listed in a cookbook especially being a teenage girl who loved sweets this was nearly nirvana.   From those early days of exploring to today, baking and cooking are sweet moments of creativity expressed with love.

Manhatten Style Cheesecake

Crust
2/3 cup butter softened
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 egg yolk
zest of 1/2 of a lemon

In a mixer bowl beat butter, flour, sugar, egg yolk, and lemon zest until mixed.
Shape into disc and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Press dough into the bottom  and up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan.
Bake for 8 minutes and set aside to cool.

Cheesecake
24 ounces or three 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons milk
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
zest of 1 small lemon

Reduce oven temperature to 375 F.
In stand mixer with paddle, beat cream cheese at medium speed until smooth.
Slowly beat in sugar.
Scrape bowl, and with mixer at low speed add remaining ingredients flour, milk, eggs, egg yolk, and lemon zest.
Beat for 5 minutes at medium speed.
Pour cream cheese batter into pan and bake for 10 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 300 F and bake for 20 minutes.
Turn oven off  and leave cheesecake in oven for 20 minutes.
Remove and cool in pan on a wire rack.
Chill for 2 hours or until cold.

Top with Chocolate Ganache or
2 large kiwis sliced thin
1/2 pint strawberries sliced thin
Arrange fruit in a pleasing design on top 
Brush 2 tablespoons apple or apricot jelly melted over low heat.

Cheesecake Bars

Cheesecake has always been a special dessert in my family because it is the ultimate rich and decadent dessert cake. Growing up, making cheesecake became popular - everyone was making it, and, subsequently cheesecake recipes passed through the family like a wildfire. There is the famous cheesecake my Aunt Julie made and then the excitement over my mother buying a spring form pan. I loved those little mini cheesecakes made with vanilla wafers and cheesecake filling in muffin wrappers that were present at every cousin's wedding and baby shower.  I loved it when my mother made a number of cheesecakes that were delicious and not too sweet as my mother did not like things to be too sugary sweet, of which I take after her.  There was always talk of the cost  because of the number and amount of ingredients, and then there was the famous cheesecake that overflowed the pan and spilled into the bottom of the oven and filled the house with a burnt cheesecake smell. Despite my mom cleaning the oven many times, the smell of burnt cheesecake wafted out of the oven every time we used it for years. 

I still love cheesecake and love to make it in the bar form so my kids can pack it in their school lunches, plus, I will admit, that I like to eat cheesecake out of hand like a cookie. This recipe was easy and delicious with a firm crust. I use Annie's brand bunny grahams for the crust.

Cheesecake Bars

Crust

preheat oven to 325F

1 1/2 cups to 1 3/4 cups or so of graham cracker crumbs

5 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons flour

dash of salt

Pulverize the graham crackers in a food processor and add the rest of the ingredients until ingredients are incorporated.

Press evenly into pan (I used a removable bottom rectangular tart pan or you can line a 8 or 9 inch square pan with overlapping foil or parchement for easy removal). Play with the size depending on your preference for a thin or thicker cheesecake layer.

Bake at 325F for 12 minutes until fragrant and beginning to brown.

Cheesecake

2 8 ounce packages of softened cream cheese

2/3 cup of sugar

1/4 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons of lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat cream cheese until smooth. 

Gradually add sugar and beat until incorporated. 

Beat in eggs one at a time until combined.

Mix in sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla until combined. 

Pour filling over baked crust. Spread evenly. 

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until edges are set and center jiggles slightly. (adjust your baking times for your pan size).

Top with a chocolate ganache if desired.

Chill well. Cut into squares and serve.

Chocolate Ganache

Melt 1 cup of semisweet chocolate and about a 1/4 cup of heavy cream over a double boiler. Add more or less cream according to how thick or thin you would like the ganache.