It's cheesecake time

It has been quite sometime after I baked the last cheesecake, and that was when I went back to Malaysia. When I went back home for data collection cum raya celebration, I brought 4 slabs of butter, 4 slabs of philly and 1 box of frozen blueberries, among other things. I have freezed the butter couple of days before departure, and wrapped them individually with old newspaper and packed them together with our clothes. Almost 16 hours of travelling, both land and air, door to door, until destination. When we safely arrived my parents' home, the butter were still hard. Alhamdullillah...was so afraid that the butter melt or worst turned bad. A good quality butter is expensive in Malaysia. I remembered a good friend of mine once told me it is so dear to buy one philly. Price wise, it's better to buy a cheesecake rather than making one back home.

But here, it is so difficult to buy a Halal cheesecake. I have tried one piece of Halal cheesecake at a friend's house, and I tell you, Kak Ida's cheesecake recipe can easily beat the one I tasted. Honestly, even my friend agreed.

So far I have tried only a few cheesecake recipes. To add to my collection, I tried this recipe yesterday.

New York Cheesecake (source http://www.joyofbaking.com/Cheesecake.html)

Crust:

2 cups (200 grams) of graham wafer crumbs or finely crushed vanilla wafers or gingersnaps (process whole cookies in a food processor until they are crumbs)

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar

1/2 cup (114 grams) unsalted butter, melted

(For crust, I used Kak Ida's recipe)

Filling:

32 ounces (1 kg) (4 - 8 ounces packages) cream cheese, room temperature (use full fat, not reduced or fat free cream cheese)

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

3 tablespoons (35 grams) all purpose flour
5 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup (80 ml) heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Topping:
1 cup (240 ml) sour cream (not low fat or fat free)
2 tablespoons (30 grams) granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

New York Cheesecake: Grease, or spray with Pam, a 9 inch (23 cm) springform pan. Place the springform pan on a larger baking pan to catch any leakage while the cheesecake is baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) with rack in center of oven.

(I lined the tin with baking paper. This will help removing the cake after baking easily)

For Crust: In a medium sized bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the sides of the springform pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.
(refer to Kak Ida's for crust preparation)

For Filling: In bowl of your electric mixer place the cream cheese, sugar, and flour. Beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes), scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (about 30 seconds) after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the whipping cream, lemon zest, vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the filling. Place the cheesecake pan on a larger baking pan and place in the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) and continue to bake for about another 1 1/2 hours or until firm and only the center of the cheesecake looks a little wet and wobbly. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Spread the topping over the warm cheesecake and return to oven to bake for 15 more minutes. Remove from oven and carefully run a knife or spatula around the inside edge of pan to loosen the cheesecake (helps prevent the surface from cracking as it cools).

Let cool before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating. This cheesecake tastes best after being refrigerated for at least a day.

This cheesecake is very heavy, rich and creamy. Yummy indeed, but I don't like the smell of egg in my cheesecake. Probably the amount of eggs can be reduced. Other than that, you surely can't stop eating this, well if you have no problem with your diet...hahahahahha... I surely gained a kilo today, both due to this cheesecake and soto that I prepared for colleagues who came for tea today. Arrghhh nothing beats eating cheesecake and soto ayam with friends yaa...

Feast your eyes...hehheheh...just kidding.

OK...I have to complete a task tonight before call it a day. It's gonna be an early start tomorrow...no..not working... but taking the kids somewhere for a break. After all it's still holiday tomorrow.

yours truly,