not very french

Cheesecake is a dessert consisting of a topping made of soft, fresh cream cheese, usually on a crust or base made from biscuit (such as a graham cracker crust), pastry or sponge cake. They may be baked or unbaked. Cheesecakes are frequently sweetened with sugar and may be flavored or topped with fruit, nuts, fruit sauce and/or chocolate.

When I first moved to the US of A , one thing stood out very quickly. It was the good old CHEESE CAKE. Of course we have our own versions of Topfenkuchen and Kaesekuchen at home, but the Cheese Cake …. was something else. Just a block from where I used to live, was this little cafe which had at least ten or twelve different cheese cakes at any one time. Changing with the seasons there they where, waiting for me to pass by after a days work in a bakery. Cheese cake with chocolate, cheese cake with raspberry, cheese cake with blueberry, or just good old cheese cake … plain …. nothing with it, on it or in it ….

The other day I set out to make a cheese cake at home. It has become a ritual actually. Because of its relatively long cooking time, it is something that needs to be planned. And if that is not enough, I like my cheese cake a day old and never refrigerated.

A cheese cake that has never seen the inside of a fridge, stays creamy differently. Now, this is best achieved during the colder months of the year. But honestly, who wants to eat a cheese cake in summer, when it has forty degrees © outside, anyway

So, here they are. Straight out of the oven. Giving you a hint of zest just before cooling down enough to be handled.

Naturally, this has to be shared ….

…. even with perfect strangers ….

Go ahead …. try for your self …. you know you want to ….

New York Cheese Cake

Ingredients

Crust

144g Graham Cracker Crumbs

10g Granulated sugar

20g Unsalted
Butter

Filling

1.3kg Cream Cheese

320g Sugar granulated


6 pc Eggs


1 pc Lemon zest

1 tsp Vanilla

320g Sour Cream

Instructions

•       Preheat the oven to 200 ˚C

•       Melt the butter in a frying pan

•       Add the sugar and graham cracker crumbs

•       Increase the heat and roast the crumbs until the butter has been

  absorbed. Stir continuously until crumbs start to color slightly.

•       Butter a 24 cm cake tin

•       Add the crumbs and press evenly onto the bottom of the cake tin

•       Place the cream cheese into a mixing bowl, add the sugar

•       On low speed mix the cheese and sugar until incorporated.

•       Add the eggs one by one, being carful not to incorporate too much air into

  the cheese mixture

•       Scrape the sides of the bowl after adding each egg

•       Stir in the lemon zest and vanilla

•       Add the sour cream and mix until just incorporated, making sure the sides

  of the mixing bowl are scraped down.

•       Fill the mixture into the baking tin

•       Make sure you have about half a centimeter left to the rim

•       Place the cake tin onto a baking tray and fill the tray about two centimeter

  with water and insert into the oven

•       After 15 min reduce the heat of the oven to 120 ˚C

•       Avoid opening the oven, not to release the steam

•       bake for about two hours, checking periodically the water, refill if needed

  with HOT water

•       when firm to the touch, remove from the oven

•       let cool completely in the baking tin

•       turn out onto a paper lined plate and turn right side up onto a serving plate

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