Yield: 1 x 10 Inch Cheesecake
| Ingredients | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Base | ||
| Graham Cracker Crumbs | 400g | |
| Granulated Sugar | 50g | |
| Salt | 5g | |
| Unsalted Butter | 220g | Melted |
| Crumble Layer | ||
| Unsalted Butter | 80g | Room Temp |
| Brown Sugar | 200g | |
| AP Flour | 50g | |
| Cinnamon | 12g | |
| Salt | 4g | |
| Cheesecake | ||
| Cream Cheese | 1135g | Room Temp |
| Brown Sugar | 300g | |
| Eggs (large) | 4 | |
| Egg Yolks (large) | 4 | |
| Heavy Cream | 120g | |
| Vanilla | 10g | |
| AP Flour | 30g | |
| Salt | 3g | |
| Topping | ||
| Mascarpone | 120g | Cold |
| Powdered Sugar | 60g | |
| Vanilla | 10g | |
| Salt | 2.5g | |
| Heavy Cream | 240g | Cold |
Procedure:
- Preheat your oven to 350⁰ Fahrenheit, and grease the inside of your 10 inch springform pan. If you only have graham cracker sheets, add them to a plastic bag and beat them with something until they resemble sand. Add your crumbs, sugar, and salt to a small bowl and pour over the melted butter. Mix this all together with your hand until it is evenly hydrated and looks like wet sand. Press half this mix into the bottom of the springform pan, and press half around the sides. It does not have to be perfectly even and level. Bake for 8-10 minutes until fragrant and slightly darker.
- Now we’ll prepare our crumble and our (optional) topping. Add all of the “Crumble” ingredients to the same small bowl our crust was made in. Pinch this all together with your fingers, or rub between your hands, until there are no dry spots and you have small little chunks. Set aside.
- For the (optional) topping, with a hand mixer, stand mixer, or whisk and some elbow grease, add your mascarpone, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt to a bowl. Mix this on a medium low speed until everything is just completely smooth (~30 seconds). Add your cold whipped cream, scrape the sides and bottom, and increase the speed to medium for a minute or two, until whipped and the swirls hold their shape in the bowl. Be Careful, this can easily over-whip and become grainy, so mix only until it holds its shape. Cover and refrigerate.
- For our cheesecake layer, add the room temp cream cheese and brown sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer, or a bowl with a hand mixer. You can also do this by hand with a rubber spatula, but it will take a minute of work. Mix these two ingredients on low speed until silky smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and check there are zero lumps before proceeding.
- The rest can be done easily with a rubber spatula by hand (preferred over a mixer actually). Add your whole eggs, two at a time, mixing until completely incorporated. Then add your 4 yolks and mix again, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl while mixing.
- Now add your heavy cream and vanilla and mix til homogenous. Finally add the AP flour and salt and mix this into the batter until thoroughly combined and you see zero flour lumps.
- Take your mostly cooled springform pan with our baked crust in it, and pour 1/3rd of the cheesecake batter into the bottom. Then sprinkle 1/3rd of our Crumble on top of it, trying your best to distribute it evenly. Now pour another 1/3rd cheesecake, spread it to the sides, and then layer another 1/3rd of our crumble on top. This will not spread in perfectly even layers, that is okay, now repeat with the final 1/3rds of our mixes. There should be a layer of crumble on the very top of our cheesecake.
- I detest a water bath, it ruins more desserts than it perfectly bakes in my opinion, so this method takes longer, but has zero chance of getting water in your dessert
- Position two racks in your oven, one as close to the middle of the oven as you can get, and one as far down as it will allow. Place a 9 x 13 inch baking sheet, or anything oven safe around that size on the bottom rack, and fill it about an inch up with boiling water.
- Now preheat the oven to 315⁰ Fahrenheit. Once ready, place your cheesecake on the middle rack, above the pan with boiling water. Bake this for approximately an hour and 40 minutes. Every oven is different, do not be surprised if this cheesecake takes closer to 2 hours. Start checking doneness at an hour and 40 minutes though.
- The cheesecake should have a solid “wobble” to it, meaning the whole thing moves back and forth as a solid unit, not just a jiggly underbaked center. If you don’t know the difference, give the cheesecake a small shake in the oven after an hour, this is what a jiggly cheesecake looks like. Wobble = Done, Jiggle = needs longer.
- Once the whole thing has a strong wobble to it, turn off the oven, and shove a wooden spoon in the corner of the oven door so that it is only an inch or so open. Walk away for at least 2 hours. Then you can remove the cheesecake and let it come to room temperature on the counter (at least one more hour). Then cover the top of the springform with plastic and refrigerate until completely cool (12 hours).
- Take your topping out of the refrigerator an hour before you plan to decorate the top of the cheesecake. Remove the cooled cheesecake from the springform by carefully popping the ring. This thing is pretty sturdy because of the base, so don’t be too afraid to handle it a little. Add the topping however you see fit, and dust a very small amount of cinnamon over the top to give it a little je ne said quoi.
- We put the cold cheesecake on a turn table, and with the pipping tip that resembles a thin isosceles triangle, keep the wider end of the tip facing the surface of the cheesecake. Then start in the middle of the cheesecake and spin the table slowly so you’re making circles, slowly working your way from the middle to the very outside, trying your best to not leave gaps as you work your way outside. It should look like a flower. Sprinkle a tiny amount of cinnamon over the top and refrigerate 2 hours before you try and cut it. It will cut perfectly into 12 large slices.
Special Instructions / notes:
If you only have a 9 inch Springform Pan, multiply all ingredient amounts by .82. If you only have a 8 inch Springform Pan, multiply all ingredient amounts by .65.
Do not fret if your cheesecake cracks or the surface isn’t perfectly to your liking, the topping and cutting will alleviate nearly all of those visual imperfections.
If you’re scared to try and decorate elaborately, you can spread the topping on the cheesecake while still in the ring, and leave some swooshes in it for textural appeal. Then sprinkle with cinnamon and remove the ring before refrigerating again.