Best New York Style Cheesecake

This recipe calls for 2 springform pans.

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray or smear with a soft bar of butter each 9-inch springform pan.

Preparing the crust:

I recommend using a food processor. If you are using a big one, simply drop in the crackers and pulse it until it is a fine, crumb consistency. If your food processor is smaller, you may want to crumble the crackers into smaller pieces using your hands and drop it into the processor, then pulse until fine. If you do not have a food processor, just put the crackers in a clean plastic bag, seal and place over a plate then crumble the crackers by rolling the bag over a thick mug until they are very fine.

Put the prepared crumbs in a medium bowl and mix in the sugar and melted butter. Mix well.

Pour half of the crumbs into 1 springform pan, and pour the rest into the other. Distribute the crumbs evenly in the bottom of the pans and press tightly. Refrigerate while you make the filling.

The Filling:

1. Since I use a standard sized electric mixer, I could only process half of each ingredient, which makes 1 batch of cheesecake. So mix 2 pounds of cream cheese, 1 cup granulated white sugar and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour. Beat until smooth at medium speed for a maximum of 2 minutes. Make sure your mixture is not clumpy, which may cause cracking. Over beating may also cause your cheesecake to crack when baked.

2. Adding eggs. When adding your eggs, break each one first in a separate, small clean bowl. Just to make sure that it is a good egg, otherwise you could be wasting your first ingredients. Add in the five eggs one at a time. Mix well by beating as long as 30 seconds, but not more than that. If it is already well mixed before 30 seconds, that’s OK – just stop. Scrape down the sides after each mix.

3. Add 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream, 1 tablespoon (about 3 lemons worth) lemon zest and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Mix well (about 1 minute or 2).

4. Get the crusted springform pan from the refrigerator. Put it on top of a wider baking sheet (to catch its mess while baking). Pour into the first pan your cream cheese mixture. Level with a spatula. Set aside while preparing the next batch, which won’t take long, otherwise put the first mixture back to the refrigerator.

5. Repeat the steps for Filling from 1 to 4. And then fill the second crust.

Baking and Preparing the Topping

1. Position your bottom oven rack at least 7 inches away from the bottom. Bake your prepared cheesecake(s) for 20 minutes at 350F. If you are making only one, bake for 15 minutes.

2. Reduce temperature to 250F. After 30 minutes, change the position of your cheesecake (move the one on top to the bottom and the bottom to the top). Continue baking up to 1 hour. Remove from oven. Your cheesecake may look moist and soft in the middle.

3. Now prepare the sour cream topping. Combine all of sour cream, granulated white sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix well using a spatula. Divide the topping into two and spread it evenly over each warm cheesecake.

4. Return to oven and bake for 20 more minutes, 15 if making only 1 batch.

Storing your Cheesecake

1. Let cool and refrigerate for 1 hour. Carefully remove the sides of the springform pan by pushing its bottom up. If you will serve this the next day, put it on a big plate then refrigerate uncovered. Do not cover this with plastic wrap. It will stick to your cheesecake and it will not look good. The same thing will happen using wax paper – so just leave it uncovered. Trust me!

2. Return to refrigerator and serve the next day.

3. For freezing: Repeat step 1 of cooling above. Remove bottom of pan and slide it to a bigger plate (bigger or same size as the bottom of springform pan), or a hard cardboard wrapped with aluminum foil. Freeze uncovered for 30 minutes. Then wrap with heavy duty aluminum foil, or if you have the regular kind, wrap it doubled. Do not freeze more than 1 month. The night before you are ready to serve it, pull it out to thaw overnight.

To serve, top with cherries or blueberries in syrup.