The Best Cheesecake Recipe Ever

The Best Cheesecake Recipe Ever

from pin.it
Cheesecakes
12 servings

The only cheesecake recipe you'll ever need: easy to make, ultra creamy, rich and luscious with a beautifully balanced flavor.  

Ingredients

  • 190 ggraham crackers (12 full graham cracker sheets)
  • 3 tbspgranulated sugar (35g) - see notes if you want to skip the sugar
  • 5 tbspmelted unsalted butter (70g)
  • 32 ozfull-fat cream cheese (4 8oz blocks or 910g), room temperature
  • 1 ½ cupsgranulated sugar (325g)
  • ½ tspsalt
  • 1 tspvanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract, but paste is superior)
  • 4 largeeggs, room temperature
  • ½ cupfull-fat heavy cream (120g), room temperature
  • 1 cupfull-fat sour cream (240g), room temperature
  • 2 tbspfreshly squeezed lemon juice
  • extra heavy cream or berries for decoration (optional)

Directions

Prep:

  1. 1

    Bring all ingredients to room temperature

  2. 2

    Preheat oven to 325F (conventional / no fan)

  3. 3

    Prepare a 9" springform pan. Lightly brush softened butter inside the pan and line it with parchment paper (I recommend a parchment circle on the base, and a separate strip of parchment along the sides of the pan). Wrap the pan tightly with 2-3 large sheets of aluminum foil on the outside (you can do this after the crust has baked, too)

Crust:

  1. 1

    Grind the Graham crackers and sugar in a food processor until they form a fine crumb. Add the melted butter and pulse until combined

  2. 2

    Transfer the crust ingredients to the prepared pan. Pack very tightly using the back of a measuring cup. You can push a little up the edges, or leave it all on the bottom for a slightly thicker crust

  3. 3

    Bake the crust in the pre-heated oven for ~7-8 min, then remove from the oven

Cheesecake:

  1. 1

    First, whisk the cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla for ~3-5 min until well combined and creamy. Keep scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl and the paddle / whisk to ensure everything combines evenly. I recommend using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer

  2. 2

    Break the eggs in a separate bowl and whisk lightly. Don’t overbeat because if the eggs get airy they will give a spongy texture to the cheesecake. Add them to the batter slowly and mix at a low speed until JUST combined

  3. 3

    Add the cream, sour cream, and lemon juice and mix at low speed until just combined. Keep scraping the bowl and whisk / paddle

  4. 4

    Pour the batter into the baked crust. Gently tap the cheesecake pan on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles; this will help prevent cracking

  5. 5

    Place a large tray in the oven and fill it with 1-2 inches of boiling water. Place the cheesecake pan in the water and bake for about ~75-80 min. Don’t open the oven until at least 70 minutes. When done, the cheesecake should be set at the edges but be very jiggly in the middle (like jello!)

  6. 6

    Cool the cheesecake for 2-3 hours at room temp. After this, place it in the fridge and chill overnight, uncovered (12+ hours)

Serving:

  1. 1

    Once the cheesecake has chilled overnight, carefully remove it from the pan and transfer to a serving stand. If there are any imperfections, you can use a hot offset spatula to smooth them out

  2. 2

    Optionally, decorate the cheesecake with plain whipped cream and / or berries

  3. 3

    Serve and enjoy!