Well, back to today's topic....
Here's my current favorite cheesecake recipe. It's from Nick Malgieri's "Perfect Cakes".
Paul's Cheesecake (I have no idea who Paul is, however)
1 1/2 pounds of cream cheese (Philly is best)
1 1/2 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
One 16-ounce container sour cream
*Use a 9- or 10-inch springform pan with your favorite crust in the bottom (graham crackers, nuts, cake, brownie, etc.)
Have all ingredients at room temperature.
Place oven rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat the oven to midway between 300 and 325 degrees.
In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on low speed until smooth. Beat in the sugar in a stream. Beat in the eggs one at a time, stopping to scrape the bowl and beater with a rubber spatula each time and beating until smooth after each addition. Beat in the vanilla, then beat in the sour cream.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for exactly 1 hour. Turn off the oven, without opening the door(!), and leave the cheesecake in the oven for exactly 1 hour more.
Cool the cheesecake in the pan on a rack, then wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm.
Unmold and serve. YUM!
*And it was with this recipe that I first tried unmolding a cheesecake from the pan by gently heating the bottom of the pan over a low flame (gas stove), then turning it over onto a large plate/platter (keep the plastic wrap it was wrapped in on the cake), giving it a good knock, and Voila! Then turn it right side up onto another platter. Yes, this sounds scary, but it works. Of course, you can still serve it with the bottom of the springform pan intact. And Malgieri's description of this procedure in his book is very funny - "follow the instructions below as if your life depended on it".
It's a very nice cheesecake - almost like a NY style. Sometimes the top cracks, sometimes it doesn't. Crack or no crack, it still tastes very good. Don't go there, TCB!
