It was even better than the pictures!
Since we really don't need the gazillion calories in a whole cheesecake, I made a half recipe. The original recipe calls for a 9-inch springform, so what I would need is a 9 x 0.707 inch pan. Well, I don't have a 6.363 inch round pan, so I decided to round up to a 7-inch pan. That was a good choice, as it turns out -- the batter filled the pan almost to the top. No way would it have fit into a 6-inch pan.
I followed the recipe pretty much as written, making a lime-flavored version and using a graham-cracker crust. I used mostly regular cream cheese with a little Neufchatel cheese (lower-fat) and a mixture of about one part sour cream to two parts heavy cream. I wrapped the bottom of the pan in one layer of extra-heavy-duty foil. My, this is a "leisure-loving" cheesecake! Even with half a recipe, it took almost an hour and a half to bake in its water bath -- then it lolled around for another hour in its little "spa" in the oven, then it chilled out overnight in the fridge. Well worth waiting for, though!
Mine didn't get all that brown on the top. It didn't crack while baking, but split a bit while cooling. No water leaked in through the extra-heavy foil, but my graham cracker crust was still kind of soggy. I think it soaked up water from the cheesecake batter itself. Maybe I'll try something different next time. Rose Levy Beranbaum suggests pressing the crumbs onto the bottom and sides of the cheesecake after baking, but that sounds just too fussy (and also difficult) for me.
Perhaps I should make a specialty of "bare-bottomed" cheesecake. That's especially appropriate since our very small town used to be chiefly known for the (in)famous nude beach located some miles north of town. I'll call it the "Mazo Beach Bare-bottomed Cheesecake!"
Mazomanie is moving up in the world, though. Recently we were named one of the "Ten Coolest Small Towns in America" by Budget Travel magazine. Yay for us!
In the meantime, we still have a stash of frozen cheesecake to get us through the winter. (I'm pleased to report that this cheesecake freezes beautifully.)
7 comments:
Barbara, your cheesecake looks and sounds fantastic. Our approaches seem similar. I made 3/4 recipe in an 8" pan, with some lower fat cream cheese and a mixture of cream and sour cream. Because of my little soggy spot on the crust, I kept it for ourselves too. I froze it whole and just sliced off pieces as we 'needed' them - it sliced perfectly neatly when frozen.
Nancy
The smaller pan size makes it seem especially tall! Your cheesecake looks great!
Looks wonderful Barbara... I got quite a kick out of your comment about not having a 6.363 inch cheesecake pan :).
I did the 7-inch, too. It worked really well. I always seem to have somewhat soggy crumb crusts as well. I did make a cheesecake back in November that worked well--I used the Chocolate Cookie Tart Crust from the Pie and Pastry Bible. I blind baked the crust, added the cheesecake batter, and baked it.
Ciao ! I love your frozen cheesecake ! I'm sure you are contributing making your town so cool !!
I made this recently for an Oscar party. Since I'm not good at math I went with the full recipe and had leftovers after I filled my 8 inch pan. I love the frozen cheesecake idea - perhaps a little too much. I could see whipping this up a little too often and having a constant supply in the freezer. Very dangerous!
Sure looks great!
Your cheesecake looks fabulous and I'm glad to know it freezes (since I'll surely make it again and won't need a whole thing, either!) Great job! :)
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