New York Style Cheesecake with Labne Cream Cheese
I had always thought that cheesecake was very hard to make. Like REALLY hard. As I read other baking blogs, I was quite intimidated because everyone was talking about cheesecakes cracking, falling, resulting in a mess, leaking, and over-cooking. Whew!
But yesterday, I gathered enough confidence to make it, and it turned out perfect. I was so surprised at how easy it was to make.
I almost literally threw everything into a bowl and stirred with a wooden spoon. And it was just like making a pumpkin pie filling. So easy and simple!
Let me just tell you that it you can make a cake, you can make this cheesecake. It's actually easier than a normal cake. I also made a strawberry sauce topping, because I always think a cheesecake is unfinished with strawberry sauce. :D
As an additional note, this cheesecake recipe differs from the other New York Style Cheesecake recipe. This one uses Turkish ingredients and produces a creamier result while the other made with Philadelphia cream cheese is firmer.
New York Style Cheesecake
Ingredients
FOR THE GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST
-100g plain Ülker crackers
-35-45g melted butter
FOR THE CHEESECAKE
-380g room-temp. mild cream cheese (Squeeze out water from Labne spreadable cream cheese in a cloth before measuring)
-30g room-temp. butter
-80g plain yogurt at room temp.
-150g white sugar
-2 room temp. eggs
-150ml heavy cream at room-temp.
-3 tablespoons corn starch
NOTE: EVERYTHING SHOULD BE AT ROOM TEMPERATURE!
FOR THE STRAWBERRY TOPPING
-225g strawberries
-3 tablespoons white sugar
-1 teaspoon Reçel Yap powder
-1 tablespoon cold water
Instructions
1. For the graham cracker crust, put the crackers in a ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin until they're crumbs. Add melted butter slowly, enough to moisten all of the crumbs. You might not need all the butter. The finished mixture should resemble wet sand.
2. Butter an 8-inch spring form pan and press the crumbs onto the bottom of the pan. Press down firmly with a spoon or measuring cup. Put the pan in the refrigerator while you make the cheesecake.
PS. Cover the bottom of your pan with a double layer of aluminum foil. Fold the edges of the foil up the sides of the pan. This will prevent water from seeping into your cheesecake when you bake it in a waterbath.
3. For the cheesecake batter: Add cream cheese and butter into a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until creamy. Add yogurt and stir until incorporated. Preheat your oven at this point to 180 degrees Celsius.
4. Add the sugar and stir until incorporated and creamy. Don't go crazy trying to get a creamy mixture. Just mix everything until incorporated well.
5. Add 1 egg to the mixture and stir well. Add the remaining egg and stir well.
6. Heat the heavy cream on the stove until warm and hot, but don't boil it! Add it into the batter and stir until incorporated.
7. Sift the corn starch into the batter and stir well.
8. Pour the batter into your spring form pan with the graham cracker crust. Put the pan on a slightly deep baking pan in the oven. Pour hot water into the baking pan and bake the cheesecake in this waterbath for 20 minutes. Do not open the oven to peep during this time!
9. Lower the oven temperature to 160 degrees and continue baking for about 35 minutes. Turn off the oven and cool the cake in the oven for 30 minutes.
10. Take the cheesecake out of the oven and cool to room temperature. Run a knife around the edges of the cake. Refrigerate the cheesecake while you make the strawberry sauce topping.
11. For the strawberry sauce topping, dump the strawberries and the sugar into a food processor and blend until smooth. Pour the sauce into a small saucepan and heat until hot but don't boil it.
12. Add the powder into the cold water and let it rest until spongy. Put the spongy mixture into the sauce and stir well, over low heat, until the gelatin fully dissolves.
13. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and cool the sauce to room temperature. Skim off the foam formed on top of the sauce.
14. Slowly pour the sauce on top of the cheesecake and smooth it out with a knife. you have to do it slowly, because the sauce oozes out really easily. You don't want sauce to go dripping down the sides of the pan.
15. Refrigerate the cheesecake overnight and top with a decorative strawberry. Enjoy!
Cheesecake recipe adapted from a Korean cookbook named 진짜 기본 베이킹 책 by super recipes. http://www.super-recipe.co.kr/etc_06/etc_s4_01.php?inc=view&idx=130&tbname=notice
Strawberry sauce recipe adapted from Joy of Baking. http://www.joyofbaking.com/cakes/StrawberryCheesecake.html