Smooth and Creamy New York Cheesecake

This smooth and creamy New York Cheesecake is the ultimate dessert-lovers treat. With this foolproof recipe, learn how easy it is to make a classic, no-fuss, baked New York Cheesecake!

I remember trying my first slice of New York cheesecake in a café years ago. My mind was blown, is this for real?! The rich and creamy texture with a subtle flavouring of vanilla and freshly zested lemon hit EVERY expectation I had for an ultimate dessert. After visiting New York last year, you can bet that the first dessert I indulged in was a Sweet Slice of New York Heaven (A NY slice of Pepperoni Pizza was the very first indulgence – OF COURSE). After tasting a classic, I knew I had to learn how to make the ultimate New York Cheesecake.

Contrary to popular belief – this smooth and creamy New York cheesecake is one of the SIMPLEST recipes I have ever made – no water bath, no cracks, no sinking in the middle, no under-baked/over-baked cheesecake. Just a few crucial tips to note when bringing this together and you can easily bake this one to perfection.

Baking this smooth and Creamy cheesecake to Perfection

• The toughest part of this recipe is practicing Patience. This is KEY when making this cheesecake. First, we need the ingredients to come to room temperature. We then need 70 minutes to bake the cake. It then sits in the oven for an hour then transferred to a wire rack to cool completely. The final stage is allowing it to sit in the refrigerator ideally overnight. A lot of patience is required but believe me when I say it will be WORTH it!

• ROOM TEMPERATURE INGREDIENTS – bring the cream cheese, eggs and heavy cream to room temperature before making the cheesecake. This ensures that the cheesecake filling is smooth and silky. Room temperature ingredients avoids lumps in the batter. This ensures you aren’t over-beating and incorporating too much air into the batter. Too much air would result in a rise and fall of the cheesecake after baking.

• This recipe begins with making the crust, an equally important player to the filling of this cheesecake. I LOVE using a combination of classic Digestive biscuits, granulated sugar and salted butter. These are blended in a food processor to create a fine crumb mix, like wet sand. This is then pressed into the bottom of a springform pan (a springform pan is necessary for this cake). The crust is then blind baked for 10 minutes at 180C to produce a crunchy golden base.

• We the filling by beating the cream cheese on medium to low speed till it is smooth and lump free. Ensure not sure not to over-beat. Add Sugar and cornstarch and beat together until well incorporated and smooth. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go. The next step adding in our eggs and beating until it has combined and has a slightly fluffy texture. The final step is to beat in the cream, vanilla extract and lemon zest, mixing again just until combined and smooth. Pour the cheesecake filling into the pan with the cooled, baked crust.

• Cooking Temperature MATTERS! Aggressively baking the cheesecake at a high temperature will dry it out. Baking it gently at a lower temperature results in the silky smooth texture that is characteristic of a NY cheesecake. Cook the cheesecake for 10 minutes at 220C then reduce to 110C and bake for a further 60 minutes. Leave the cake in the oven with the door slightly ajar. This allows the cheesecake to gradually temper to room temperature. Remove the cheesecake and place it on a cooling rack to come to room temperature. Allow the cheesecake to set in the refrigerator for a minimum of 8 hours before serving! The reason for this lengthy and gradual cooling process is to avoid cracks on the top of the cheesecake. Imagine taking a glass out of the freezer and instantly filling it with boiling hot water – make sense?

• Checking a cheesecake for doneness has always been an area of uncertainty for me – we cannot use the ‘poke the centre with a toothpick’ method as this will always come out with uncooked batter on the toothpick. The trick is to ensure the sides of the cheesecake are set while the centre of the cheese cake still remains just slightly jiggly. Leaving the cake to cool in the oven for an hour allows the cake to not only to cool gently but to also continue gradually cooking the jiggly centre.

A few ingredient tips:

• Philadelphia cream cheese – I have and always will use only one brand of cream cheese and that’s the Philadelphia blocks of cream cheese. High quality cream cheese is crucial to the success of this smooth and creamy New York cheesecake.
• Salted butter for the crust – I love the combination of a mostly sweet and slightly salty touch to my biscuit base so I use salted butter. It neutralises the sweetness and enhances the flavour of the crunchy crust.
• Extra egg yolk – the addition of an extra egg yolk adds to the creamy texture of your cheesecake – I wouldn’t skip this step! Save the extra egg white in an airtight container and store in the fridge to add to eggs the next morning!
• Heavy cream – likewise to the cream cheese. Make sure you’re using high quality heavy cream for this recipe for more of that smooth and creamy consistency.
• Cornstarch – a little bit of cornstarch adds a touch of insurance to the cheesecake, assisting with preventing cracks and also making for a cleaner slice once it has cooled down.
• Lemon zest – the lemon zest compliments the slight tanginess of the cream cheese and influences a fresh flavour to the cake.

• Aluminium foil – this step is optional but in my opinion shouldn’t be skipped if you have aluminium foil in the kitchen. Wrapping the springform pan securely and generously along the sides and bottom in aluminium foil not only ensures that none of the cake batter leaks out of the pan but also ensures that the sides of the cheesecake retain that white creamy colour while it bakes.

If you enjoyed this smooth and creamy cheesecake recipe, you will love my newer recipes:

• The Best Chocolate Mousse
• Soft and Chewy Rainbow Chocolate Chip Cookies
• My Favourite Chocolate Fudge Brownie Recipe
• The Most Perfect Banana Bread

Smooth and Creamy New York Cheesecake (No Water Bath)

4 from 8 votes

Recipe by Shilpika Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

10

minutes

This smooth and creamy New York Cheesecake is the ultimate dessert-lovers treat. With this foolproof recipe, learn how easy it is to make a classic, no-fuss, baked New York Cheesecake!

Ingredients

• For the Crust

• 130 Grams Digestive Biscuits

• 1.5 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar

• 4 Tablespoons Salted Butter, melted

• For the Filling

• 750 Grams Cream Cheese, room temperature

• 150 Grams Granulated Sugar

• 1.5 Tablespoons Cornstarch

• 3 Large Eggs, room temperature

• 1 Egg Yolk, room temperature

• 100 ML Heavy Cream, room temperature

• 1.5 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

• 1 Teaspoon Lemon Zest

• To Serve

• Freshly whipped cream

• Fresh berries

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 180C. Wrap the outside (sides and bottom) of an 8-inch springform pan with aluminium foil.
• In a food processor, blend the digestive biscuits to a fine crumb. Stir in the sugar and melted butter till combined and press into an even layer across the bottom of the springform pan. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes and place on a cooling rack to cool while you prepare the filling.
• Increase oven temperature to 220C. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese on a low-medium speed to remove the lumps until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and cornflour and beat till combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl in between. (Do not over-beat).
• Add the eggs and beat until combined to a smooth texture. Add heavy cream, vanilla and lemon zest. Beat until just combined and smooth, remembering to scrape down the sides of the bowl in between and not over-beating the batter. Pour the cheesecake batter into the prepared pan with the crust. To help get rid of air bubbles, tap the cake pan on the counter a few times, allowing the bubbles to surface and to level the top of your cake. I also like to run a skewer or toothpick across the cake batter in a zig-zag pattern.
• Bake for 10 minutes at 220C. After 10 minutes, do not open the oven door, reduce the oven temperature to 110C and bake for a further 60-70 minutes until slightly golden brown around the edged and a little wobbly in the centre. Switch the oven off and leave the cheesecake in there to cool with the oven door slightly ajar for 60 minutes. Transfer the cheesecake to a cooling rack and cool completely to room temperature. (Do not attempt to remove the cake at this stage – it won’t have set completely). Cover the cake in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving.
• This cheesecake is best served when brought to room temperature for at least an hour before serving. Serve with freshly whipped cream and seasonal berries.

Notes