How to Bake the Perfect Cheesecake Every Time or "Just a Vanilla Cheesecake"
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Learning how to bake the perfect cheesecake is all about quality ingredients, an uncomplicated recipe and mastering the simple method.
I recently had a conversation with one of our readers who was so nervous about baking a cheesecake for her husband's birthday. She had previously encountered a couple of cheesecake disasters.
Understandably, she was not relishing the thought of ruining the centrepiece of the birthday celebration. I convinced her to do a practice run with a "just a vanilla cheesecake" to get a feel for the process of baking the perfect cheesecake.
Following this recipe and instructions she was delighted to perfectly bake both the practice cheesecake and the second as hubby's birthday cake.
The advantage of learning with "just a vanilla cheesecake" is that it is very simple to prepare with uncomplicated ingredients. Also, you get a good feel for the proper consistency of a cheesecake batter.
It is also relatively easy to tell when a vanilla cheesecake is done. If the top of this cheesecake begins to brown at all, in all likelihood it is fully baked.
Although as the recipe states, it need not brown at all to be fully baked. I give the pan a little shake to test how much it wobbles after about an hour.
It is best to treat a cheesecake like a large baked custard which it really is. Residual heat will take care of any slightly wobbly centre even after it comes out of the oven.
In my opinion, baking the perfect cheesecake requires the use of a bain marie during baking.
A bain marie is simply a water bath that buffers the direct heat from the sides and bottom of the baking pan. This helps the cheesecake bake more evenly.
I bake my cheesecakes in a 9 inch spring form pan that has the bottom and sides wrapped in multiple layers of wide heavy duty aluminum foil. Therefore it forms a sort of boat that the cheesecake pan sits in.
The roll of aluminum foil that I use is about 16 inches wide. I use at least 4 layers of foil to make sure that no water leaks in and ruins the crust of my cheesecake.
The aluminum foil wrapped pan is then placed inside a larger baking pan; I use a 12 inch cake pan. Boiling water is then poured into the larger pan filling it from ½ to ⅔ of the way to the top.
I find it best to pour the boiling water into the pan after it is placed on the rack in the oven. Then, you are less likely to splash water onto the cheesecake or inside the aluminum foil.
I reuse the aluminum foil for several future cheesecakes, adding a couple of layers to it each time just to be safe.
I still recommend that you use the aluminum foil wrap around the cheesecake pan. The aluminum foil still offers a good buffer to the heat. High heat and baking too quickly is the main reason that a cheesecake becomes dense and not creamy.
The recipe for the Maple Apple Topping on the cheesecake above can be found here: Maple Apple Cheesecake.
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How to Bake the Perfect Cheesecake Every Time or "Just a Vanilla Cheesecake"
How to Bake the Perfect Cheesecake Every Time or "Just a Vanilla Cheesecake" - Learning how to bake the perfect cheesecake is all about quality ingredients, an uncomplicated recipe and mastering the simple method.
Ingredients
For the cookie crumb crust
- 1⅓ cups graham cracker crumbs
- 3 tablespoon sugar
- ⅓ cup melted butter
For the cheesecake batter
- 3 eight ounce packages ounces cream cheese, (3 cups)
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 3 teaspoon vanilla extract, (or, even better, the seeds from one large vanilla pod)
- 1 cup whipping cream
Instructions
To prepare the cookie crumb crust
- In a small bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter.
- Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased or parchment lined 9 inch spring form pan. (Grease bottom only!) Parchment paper is ideal here because it makes it very easy to release the cheesecake from the bottom of the pan.
To prepare the cheesecake batter
- Cream together the cream cheese and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes until well combined.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Beat in the vanilla extract (or vanilla pod seeds. If using a vanilla pod, scrape all the seeds out and stir them very well into the whipping cream in the next step. This will help to break up the sticky vanilla pod paste and make sure the tint black seeds are evenly distributed throughout the cheesecake.)
- Finally blend in the whipping cream well until the batter is very smooth. Using a rubber bowl scraper/spatula, scrape the bottom and the sides of the bowl as well as the electric beaters/paddle and give the batter a final beating for 1 minute on a higher speed. This final step ensures that there are no lumps in the batter and introduces a little air into the cheesecake to make it lighter.
- Pour over the prepared base and bake in a bain marie at 300 degrees F for 60-70 minutes. (Oven temperatures will vary slightly. Mine takes the full 70 minutes and you can go to 75 if you feel you need to.)
- Don't be an compulsive oven door opener! Don't open it at all in the first hour.
- The cheesecake does not have to brown at all in order to be fully baked; the surface of the cheesecake should lose any shine when the cake is properly baked. It can still be slightly wobbly just at the center at this point.
- Remove the cake from the oven and run a sharp knife completely around the edge of the pan. This will allow for the cheesecake to shrink as it cools and hopefully not crack (Allow the cheesecake to cool thoroughly on a wire rack at room temperature. (NOT in the fridge). Refrigerate after fully cooled.
Notes
In my opinion, baking the perfect cheesecake requires the use of a bain marie during baking. A bain marie is simply a water bath that buffers the direct heat from the sides and bottom of the baking pan to more evenly bake the cheesecake from the sides to the center. I bake my cheesecakes in a 9 inch spring form pan that has the bottom and sides wrapped in multiple layers of wide heavy duty aluminum foil which forms a sort of boat that the cheesecake pan sits in. The roll of aluminum foil that I use is about 16 inches wide. I use at least 4 layers of foil to make sure that no water leaks in and ruins the crust of my cheesecake. The aluminum foil wrapped pan is then placed inside a larger baking pan; I use a 12 inch cake pan. Boiling water is then poured into the larger pan filling it from ½ to ⅔ of the way to the top.I find it best to pour the boiling water into the pan after it is placed on the rack in the oven as you are less likely to splash water onto the cheesecake or inside the aluminum foil. I reuse the aluminum foil for several future cheesecakes, adding a couple of layers to it each time just to be safe. EVEN IF YOU CHOOSE NOT USE A BAIN MARIE still use the aluminum foil wrap around the cheesecake pan. The aluminum foil still offers a good buffer to the heat. High heat and baking too quickly is the main reason that a cheesecake becomes dense and not creamy.
Nutrition Information
Yield
12Serving Size
1/12Amount Per Serving Calories 258Total Fat 15gSaturated Fat 9gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 85mgSodium 114mgCarbohydrates 28gFiber 0gSugar 23gProtein 3g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Excellent! I substituted my farm fresh chevre for the cream cheese in your recipe!! This will be my go-to cheesecake recipe! Thank you!
Sounds very interesting indeed.
This is by far my favorite cheesecake recipe. I've successfully modified to add citrus flavors but am curious if you've tried adding pumpkin (think Thanksgiving). If so, would love to hear how you encorporated it.
I've never tried to make pumpkin Cheesecake by modifying this recipe I'm afraid. This one is pretty delicately balanced to be adding a lot of moisture from a pumpkin puree I think. If I were to attempt it I would up the cream cheese content and cut back on the whipping cream.
Hi, I was just wondering what type of sugar you should use ? Caster sugar, normal sugar?
Just about to buy my ingredients and get baking !
I'm also going to add melted white chocolate and fresh raspberries 🙂
We don't really use the term caster sugar over here. It's just normal white sugar in this recipe.
I make a cheesecake that is made with sour cream vs the whipping cream. However, once I forgot the sour cream, had greek yogurt in the house and substituted it. The taste was the same but it was a "drier" cheesecake- It still got eaten though. Def. needed the fat of the sour cream.
As for toppings... I have a pretty picky extended family- so I found having several different toppings and letting them top their own works around here. I will have chocolate, raspberry, strawberry and cherry toppings for a larger gathering. It means leftovers of those toppings but then I will use them as filling for other things.
Wow!! I made this cheesecake on Christmas Eve. It was DELICIOUS! Best ever!!! Easy. Flavorful. It came out perfect thanks to your great instruction. The creamiest tasting cheesecake ever. It was so tender, so gooood. The heavy whipping cream addition is what makes this cheesecake a winner I think. Voted by my son as the best cheesecake I've made yet. So so good. And p.s.-- I did not use a water bath. Came out perfect. Thank you again.
Let's just say I will never use another cheesecake recipe again. Bravo! I made this recipe this weekend, it was amazing. So creamy and smooth! I did cut the sugar down to 3/4 cup and it was still plenty sweet. I chose to top with a homemade blueberry sauce...heaven! Thank you for sharing this recipe, I can't wait to make it again!
So glad it was such a success!
Hi this cheese cake sounds great I have got to make a 14inch round baked vanilla cheese cake for a wedding cake
It's going to be the base with two more cakes on top
Have you or has any one out there got any good tips for me
I'm worried about its size and If it goes wrong and I over bake it then it's going to be quite costly to make another one
will the cheese cake rise
A little but hit settles back down as it cools.
I've never made a cheesecake that size. Is there a 14 inch cheesecake pan. I wouldn't attempt to stack cheesecakes unless it was on a self supporting stand.
I have made this before and it was delicious! I was wondering have you ever made this in advance and frozen it to use later? I will be in a rush to get baking done for Thanksgiving because I am going out of town a few days before and would love to know if this freezes well. Thanks
Cheesecakes do freeze well. you shouldn't have a problem with this one, just be sure to fully unwrap/uncover it before thawing it.
Thanks so much!!
This is absolutely the best cheesecake I have ever had! I was wanting to make the same cheesecake but in pumpkin flavor. Any idea how to do that?
Just make the cheesecake it was so easy to make. Can't wait to taste it
It was a delightful experience in making of this cake. I made this for my husband's birthday with an extra butter cream frosting and some homemade chocolate barks to decorate with lovely strawberries. And wow it was a real hit with my family and friends ! Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe. I didn't do Bain Marie. But yes I did covered my pan with layers of foil. Thank you once again
What brand name of whipping cream do you use?
Doesn't matter as long as it is real dairy cream and not fake dessert topping.
I'm curious if you've converted this to a pumpkin cheesecake? I absolutely love this recipe and have made it many times but usually use a fruit zest of some sort. I'm struggling with how I might add pumpkin.
And I just realized I asked this same question two years ago (ha!). Clearly I wasn't brave enough to try messing with perfection. Looking back on your previous response, I don't think I'll chance it. Maybe next year (after I've done a practice run)!
Getting ready to try this for my husband's 50th birthday on Christmas Eve- wondering if it is ok to bake it this weekend (December 9) and freeze until Christmas Eve (a day on which things are sure to be hectic)? If so, is there a particular method that you would recommend to freeze it? (Planning on topping it with a bakeapple topping on the day itself which I will also have prepared ahead of time).
I freeze the cheesecake on a cookie rack overnight and then wrap it in several layers of plastic wrap. This preserves the clean look of the cheesecake. I thaw on a baking rack in a cool room or in the fridge overnight.
Thank you really appreciate your help!
Can a silicon pan be used to bake this?
If you try, be sure it is very well chilled before attempting to remove. Does this pan springform sides?