homemade cheesecake

A good New York style cheesecake, that is smooth, creamy and crack-free, can be easy to make if you remember these few tips:
- don't use light/low fat cream cheese and sour cream
- do make sure your cream cheese and eggs are at room temperature
- do grease and line your springform pan with parchment paper
- don't overbeat your batter
- don't put a warm cheesecake in the fridge
- do chill the cheesecake uncovered for at least 4 hours

Homemade Cheesecake

recipe adapted from TheKitchn

makes one 9 inch cake

INGREDIENTS

For the crust:

2 cups ground graham crackers (12 pieces)

1/2 stick (1/4 cup or 56g) unsalted butter, melted

For the cake:

1 lbs (2 x 8 oz bricks or 1.8 x 250g bricks) cream cheese, room temp

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs, room temp

For the topping:
2 cups sour cream
1/8 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

METHOD:

1. Preheat your oven to 350F (177C or 170C Fan). Grease the sides and line the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan with a parchment round. Set aside. 

2. In a small bowl, make the crust by combining the ground biscuits and melted butter together. Dump the mixture into your prepared springform pan and gently shake to spread the crumbs. Gently use the flat bottom of a drinking glass to press the crust evenly into the bottom of the pan.

3. Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges brown. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack.

4. In the mixing bowl of your stand mixer, make the cake by mixing the cream cheese, sugar, cornstarch, and salt on medium-low speed until the mixture is creamy and no lumps of cream cheese remain.

5. Mix in the sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla and beat on medium-low speed until combined and creamy.

6. Mix in the eggs one at a time and beat each one until completely blended.

7. Stir and scrape down the beater and sides of the bowl with a spatula. Make sure everything is incorporated. The finished batter should be thick, creamy, and silky. Pour the batter over the crust and spread the batter in an even layer against the sides of the pan.

8. Put a tray or shallow heat-proof bowl of water on the lower rack of the oven. Place the cheesecake on the rack above and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the middle is still slightly wobbly. While the cheesecake is baking, make the topping by combining the sour cream, sugar and vanilla.

9. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and gently spread the sour cream topping evenly over top. Return the cheesecake to the oven and bake for another 5 minutes.

10. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Run a knife around the edge of the cake and cool completely at room temperature for another hour.

11. Chill the cheesecake in the pan uncovered for at least 4 hours or up to 2 days in the refrigerator.

12. When you're ready to serve, release the springform side from the pan and remove. You can serve the cheesecake right from bottom of the pan or slip a large spatula under the parchment paper and carefully transfer the cheesecake to a serving platter. Top cheesecake with your desired topping and serve.

celebrate with cake

Celebration Cake

recipe adapted from The Dessert Bible, by Christopher Kimball

makes one 6 inch round layer cake and 12 cupcakes

(also makes one 9 inch round layer cake or 24 cupcakes)

Good to know...

- Cake flour substitute = 1 cup all purpose flour - 3 tbsp of flour + 3 tbsp of cornstarch

- Use room temperature eggs and butter.

- Use a wooden spoon to aerate your flour before measuring.

- Don't over mix your cake batter otherwise too much gluten will form and your cake will turn out chewy. Just mix enough to incorporate dry ingredients.

- Don't overfill pans, 2/3 full is the maximum.

- Tap your pans to remove any air bubbles from the batter before baking.

- Place cake on a same size cardboard wrapped in foil to facilitate frosting.

- Do a crumb coating (if frosting the sides of the cake) and chill for 30 minutes before frosting.

- Use an offset spatula for frosting and a large flat spatula (warmed in hot water) for smoothing.

- Frosted cake can be made up to 2 days in advance. Store covered in the fridge (or wine fridge) and take out at least 1 hour before serving. Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days.

INGREDIENTS

Make the cake:

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1.5 sticks (12 tbsp, 170g) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup buttermilk

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Soak the cake (optional):

1 cup milk

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

Decorate the cake:

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting x 2

8 store bought macarons or sprinkles

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 325F (163 C). Grease and line cake pans and/or a muffin tin with cupcake liners if using.

2. In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs one by one and beat until well combined.

4. Mix in flour in three parts, alternating with buttermilk. Do not over mix. Stir in vanilla.

5. Pour batter evenly into the cake pans and/or muffin tins. Tap your pans to get rid of any air bubbles. Bake for 20-25 minutes (8-10 minutes for cupcakes) or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Rotate pans halfway through baking. Let cakes cool in pans for 5 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting (about 30-45 minutes).

6. Once the cakes are cool enough, trim them with a serrated knife so that the tops are flat. Combine milk and vanilla. Soak your cake by brushing the milk solution evenly over the layers (optional).

7. Make the frosting.

8. Place one cake layer on a serving plate and cover with frosting. Repeat with remaining layers. Spread remaining frosting on top and decorate as desired.

 

all the frostings you'll ever need

General Tips:

- use room temperature butter

- sift your powdered/confectioners/icing sugar

- use good quality chocolate (you'll taste the difference)

- don't overbeat your frosting or else you'll have air bubbles

- ensure a smooth frosting by adding enough liquid

- buttercreams can be stored in an air tight container in the fridge up to 7 days or in the freezer up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and beat until fluffy before using.

Vanilla White Frosting

makes 4 cups

INGREDIENTS:

4 sticks (2 cups or 452g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

4 cups (500g) powdered sugar, sifted

12 tbsp (3/4 cup) vegetable shortening (optional)
2 tbsp milk

4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp salt

METHOD:

1. Beat butter until soft and fluffy. Add the remaining ingredients and continue beating until smooth.

---

Chocolate Frosting

makes 4 cups

INGREDIENTS:

4 sticks (2 cups or 452g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 cups (250g) powdered sugar, sifted

1 cup of good quality cocoa powder, sifted

3-4 tbsp milk or coffee

4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp salt

METHOD:

1. Beat butter until soft and fluffy. Add the remaining ingredients and continue beating until smooth.

2. Chocolate frosting can dry out easily, just add more milk and beat until smooth and creamy.

---

Cream Cheese Frosting

makes 4 cups

INGREDIENTS:

1 stick (1/2 cup or 113g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 x 8oz packages (452g) cream cheese, cold cut up in chunks

2 cups (250g) powdered sugar, sifted

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

METHOD:

1. In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer, add butter and cream cheese and beat on high speed until it begins to thicken and become fluffy.

3. On the slowest speed, add powdered sugar in increments. Once sugar is incorporated, add vanilla and salt. Turn back up high speed and whip until just smooth. Careful not to over mix or else the frosting will not hold its shape.

4. Frosting can be made up to 24 hours in advance. Store in an air tight container in the fridge and let soften at room temperature before using.

---

Whipped Cream Frosting

makes about 4 cups

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

METHOD:

1. Make sure your bowl and beaters are chilled beforehand.

2. Beat all ingredients together until stiff peaks form. Don't overbeat or else your frosting will look curdled. Use immediately or keep refrigerated until ready to use.

---

Cookie & Pastry Icing/Frosting

makes about 1 cup

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

4 tbsp milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

METHOD:

1. Whisk all ingredients together until smooth. Icing should be thick, but pourable.

2. Icing can be drizzled with a fork or applied to your cookies and pastries from a plastic squeeze bottle. If the icing gets too thick, stir in some milk 1 tsp at a time to thin it out.

3. Use immediately and discard any leftovers.