April's Daring Baker marks my completion of one full year of baking challenges. Being a part of this group opened my kitchen to many experiments that I would never have dared on my own, and for that I am so glad that I joined. From Opera Cake to Eclairs to Lasagna Verdi, each month truly was a challenge.
The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge, and I am so glad she did. The recipe appeared to be like any other cheesecake, but the baking technique stood out as unique. While baking, the cheesecake is placed in a boiling water bath, and then post baking the cheesecake is cooled in the oven. This method prevents the cheesecake from cooling to quickly and cracking. Sheer and utter brilliance I tell you. (Those are the tricks worth sticking around Daring Bakers to learn!) I can confidently say this was one of if not the best cheesecakes I have ever tasted. Creamy and fluffy with just enough sweetness.
She gave us autonomy in our flavor selection, and I chose raspberry preserves in a gingersnap crust. ama-zing. Follow the typical graham cracker crust recipe, but use ginger snap cookies in place of graham crackers. (This incidentally is also the perfect crust for pumpkin pie) I used 1/2 cup of raspberry preserves diluted with 2 tablespoons water, and spread one layer over the crust before pouring in the cheesecake filling. I used the rest of the raspberry preserves as a middle layer in the filling, saving just a bit for a drizzle on the top.
Served around the table after a long day in the sun, this was a dessert to make anyone glad to be Daring.
Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake:
crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extractcheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecakeDIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.
3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.
4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.
5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.
Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil "casserole" shaped pans from the grocery store. They're 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.
