How to Make a Cheesecake (2024)

Hello, I’m Tia Thomas and I am so thrilled that Stacy asked me to do this guest blog spot today! Let me just tell ya’ll, I have never met a hobby I didn’t like, and making cheesecakes has been a hobby of mine for several years now. I made my first cheesecake for my coworkers at Johnson County Bank. I had gotten a Christmas magazine that had an article in it about cheesecakes. I thought they looked pretty so I wanted to make one (yes, just because they looked pretty, I don’t even eat cheesecake!) My co-workers, family and friends loved the cheesecake I made and I was soon asked to bring a cheesecake for every work, family and church occasion. Then, I had people asking me to make cheesecakes for their occasions as well. During the two years that my husband and I owned a coffeehouse, I made a TON of cheesecake – there were times when people would call ahead for lunch to reserve their cheesecake before they came!

I have one go to recipe that never fails, I found it in a Taste of Home cookbook a long time ago and I tweaked it just a tad. It is the most popular cheesecake that I make, all my other cheesecake recipes are basically variations of this one. I have at least 30 different cheesecake recipes that I have come up with based on this one. Cheesecakes are really not complicated and I’m going to walk you through making one, step by step. I know this post is a bit lengthy, but once you get this basic cheesecake down, the sky is the limit. You don’t even need that many ingredients to make a basic cheesecake. See, nothing weird or fancy!

Ok, now back to the cheesecake. You are going to crush your graham crackers first. I put my crackers in a plastic bag and beat them with a meat mallet, it’s kind of fun. The kids always want to do this part. Just make sure you use the flat side to beat them with or you will end up with holes in your bag and crumbs everywhere.

You can put them in a food processor to do this, but personally, I am all for taking the route that creates the least dirty dishes and this is it.

So, once you get your graham crackers pounded into nice fine crumbs you will pour them out in a bowl. Measure out your sugar and cinnamon for the crust and mix them together with a fork.

Melt your butter and mix it into the crumbs.

Pour the crumb mixture into your springform pan and shake them around to evenly distribute them. Ever wonder how to get a perfect, uniform crust? Use a measuring cup to press the crumbs into place! The flat bottom and rounded sides are perfect, look how nice that is!

After you have your crumbs packed well all round the bottom and sides of your pan, place it on a baking sheet. I learned the hard way that the butter will seep out and when the butter hits the oven element, well, your oven will catch on fire. Trust me, that’s a little scary. Use a baking sheet to catch your butter! Bake the crust at 350 for about 10 minutes. Here’s what you will get.

While your crust is baking, you can start mixing your filling. First you need to mix the softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla really, really, really good. You want this mixture to be smooth as silk, no lumps! When we had The Coffeehouse, I would put them in my stand mixer and walk away, go fix myself something to eat, check facebook, go grocery shopping, whatever – just make sure you occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl. If you have a stand mixer, by all means, use it, if not, its ok, you can use a hand mixer. If you are going to make very many cheesecakes I would suggest investing in a heavy duty hand mixer though. I have burned up the motor in 3 cheapo hand mixers making cheesecakes, just so you know. Now, once your cream cheese mixture is nice and smooth are ready to add your eggs.

Now, here comes the trick to my cheesecakes that make them so much different from most others. I separate my eggs and beat the whites before folding them into my cream cheese mixture. This gives the cheesecake a much lighter texture than most cheesecakes. So, separate your eggs (carefully, no egg yolks in the whites!!) and go ahead and put the yolks in with the cream cheese and put all the whites in a metal or glass bowl. Beat the yolks into the cream cheese (on low speed) until they are just barely mixed in. Don’t overbeat the yolks, that can cause problems, I’m not sure why but it can so just don’t do it.

Wash the beaters off really well – any traces of fat can keep the egg whites from forming the soft peaks that we want (which is why you don’t want any yolk in the whites.) Beat your egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. Your eggs will start off like this, and you want them to end up like……

this.

Now, GENTLY fold the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture until they are well incorporated.

Pour the cream cheese mixture over your cooled crust.

Give your pan a few little twists to distribute everything evenly, then drop it (gently, just form an inch or less!!) on the counter a couple of times to help it settle and let the air bubbles rise to the top and burst.

Now you are going to bake it (don’t forget the baking sheet to catch the butter!) at 325 for about 55 minutes, but ovens vary and bake times for cheesecakes vary so you need to start checking it at around 50 minutes. You don’t check a cheesecake with a toothpick like you do a regular cake – you jiggle it instead. If the edges are set but the center is still a little jiggly (but not liquidy – is that a word??) then your cheesecake is done, if its still too liquidy, put it back in for another 3 minutes and check again. I check in 3 minute intervals, I don’t know why, I just do. Don’t overbake your cheesecake!! Overbaking is a cheesecake’s nemesis! It will set up when it chills, but if you overbake it, you will have chewy, dry cheesecake and it will gag you. Trust me, I know this.

Here is what you will have when it’s done. GASP!! My cheesecake cracked!! It’s OK!! Martha Stewart may throw it away like this, but I promise you this – Paula Deen would NOT! Cheesecakes crack and it rains on picnics – its life, it happens. Enter – topping. Cheesecake toppings will cover a multitude of culinary sins. I have overbaked a cheesecake before and had a chewy top, but the inside was fine. I peeled the top off, covered it with a chocolate ganache and it was wonderful. I have even had a cheesecake fall apart on me when I was packaging it at The Coffeehouse and I was able to piece it back together, chill it until it was good and firm and cover it with a topping and the guy came back to tell me it was the best thing he’d ever had and he wanted another cake just like it the next week. So, don’t worry about a little cosmetic flaw, that’s what makeup is for!

In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, sugar and vanilla.

In a CHILLED metal or glass bowl, whip the whipping cream with CHILLED beaters until soft peaks form – the cold helps the whipping cream get nice and fluffy a lot faster, it has something to do with the fat, you can look it up on wikipedia if you need to know why. Remember – egg whites get no fat and cream needs to be cold.

Fold the whipped cream into the sour cream mixture and spread it all over your cheesecake. You can put the topping on before or after the big chill, it doesn’t really make a big difference. I like to do it before and let it chill with the cake. Here’s another little tip – always let a cheesecake stand at room temperature for at least half an hour before serving. Do what?? After the big chill lecture? Yes, once again, I don’t know why just do it. The flavors are so much better when you do this. Ice cold cheesecake just doesn’t cut it. So a little while before serving, remove the cheesecake from the fridge and remove the sides from the springform pan (make sure you lift the ring straight up).

Don’t throw away the crumbs that fall off the crust, scoop them up and sprinkle them over the top, they make a nice garnish. Then, slice and serve your cheesecake. Last tip, when you cut a cheesecake, swipe the knife on the side of a bowl or plate after each cut to get nice clump free slices. Oh, and be ready to have requests to make cheesecake for everyone’s every occasion.

There you have it, my “famous” cheesecake – as seen on WCYB and WJHL, as served in our restaurant and as something you can make at home for your family (and it sure is a lot cheaper than eating it out!)