This is the best and creamiest New York–style cheesecake recipe I’ve found, and everyone who tastes it, agrees! I bet you’ll feel the same way, too!
You may consider a “no-bake” cheesecake a cheesecake, but I do not.
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There’s nothing pleasing to me about the taste or texture of a gelatinous “no-bake cheesecake.” There is also the fact that cakes are baked, so is it truly a cake if it’s not baked? Now, if you have eaten a New York-style cheesecake, you’ll be on board with me, because everything about the taste and texture of this dessert-of-the-gods is simply heavenly!
In my experience, after having cheesecake in New York, this recipe hits the mark. It’s rich, thick, creamy and utterly delicious! Edited to add: it was one of my top 10 recipes in 2014!
Travel Tip: If you’re going to New York, and are looking for a place to stay that’s not in Mid-Town which is bustling with tourists, try the voco Franklin Hotel on the Upper East Side.
As you know, I bake a lot, and I have made many different cheesecakes; in fact I have two other cheesecake recipes on my site. One which is perfect for this time of year, pumpkin cheesecake and chocolate mousse topped with chocolate ganache. The other is lovely for a summer treat, limoncello cheesecake. However, when it comes to a plain, New York-Style cheesecake, this is the only recipe I use because it is perfection.
It can stand on it’s own, but I love to serve it with some sort of fruit topping, like Fabbri Italian cherries, a little raspberry sauce or even a spot of my favorite jam.
Note: there are TWO temperature changes with the oven setting, so please be sure not to miss them!
The Richest and Creamiest New York-Style Cheesecake I’ve Ever Made
adapted from Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts Serves 16
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Preheat oven to 350°F ( 180°C)
Crust/Base
- 1 cup (5 oz) crushed cookies, such as Graham crackers, speculoos cookies or Digestives
- 3 Tbsp melted butter
Make the base by mixing the crushed cookies and butter and press into the bottom of an 10″ springform pan.
Place in preheated oven for 5 to 7 minutes until the edges are just beginning to color. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
IMPORTANT: -> -> Change oven temperature to 475°F (245°C) <- <-
New York-Style Cheesecake Batter
- cream cheese
- sugar
- eggs
- cream
- flour
- egg yolks
- vanilla powder or vanilla extract
- organic Meyer lemon rind
For the Topping
Fabbri Italian cherries or any fruit topping, jam, sauce, etc.
In the bowl of a large stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth, then add the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then add the remaining ingredients: eggs, cream, flour, yolks, vanilla and rind. Beat well for about 5 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Pour the cheesecake batter into the the springform pan with the cooled base and bake for 12 minutes (see oven temp change above), then lower oven temperature to 300°F (150°C) and continue to bake for another 35 minutes.
At the end of this cooking time, turn off the oven, but allow the New York-style cheesecake to remain in the oven for another 30 minutes. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack. When completely cool, cover and refrigerate overnight or a minimum of 6 hours.
To Serve to the New York-Style Cheesecake ~
Remove the cheesecake from the fridge and run a knife along the side of the tin, then remove the the springform side. Place onto a serving plate and top with your choice of fruit or fruit sauce, chocolate sauce, or whatever you choose.
Alternatively, cut slices of the New York-style cheesecake, and place on individual serving plates then place the topping on each piece (this is what I usually do).
I couldn’t decide if I wanted cherries or raspberry sauce on my creamy slice, so I had both! Mmmm…
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The Creamiest New York-Style Cheesecake I've Ever Made
A creamy, baked cheesecake that is an absolute delight.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup (5 oz) crushed cookies, such as Graham crackers, or Digestives
- 3 tbsp melted butter
Filling
- 5 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/4 cups (10 oz) sugar
- 5 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup cream
- 3 Tbsp flour
- 1/2 tsp Heilala vanilla powder or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- grated rind of one lemon, preferably an organic Meyer lemon
To serve
- Fabbri Italian cherries or any fruit topping, jam, sauce, etc
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F ( 180°C)
- Make the base by mixing the crushed cookies and butter and press into the bottom of an 10″ springform pan.
- Place in preheated oven for 5 to 7 minutes until the edges are just beginning to color. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
IMPORTANT -> -> Change oven temperature to 475°F (245°C) <- <-
- In the bowl of a large stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth, then add the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then add the remaining ingredients: eggs, cream, flour, yolks, vanilla and rind. Beat well for about 5 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Pour cheesecake batter into the the springform pan with the cooled base and bake for 12 minutes (see oven temp change above), then lower oven temperature to 300°F (150°C) and continue to bake for another 35 minutes.
- At the end of this cooking time, turn off the oven, but allow the cheesecake to remain in the oven for another 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack.
- When completely cool, cover and refrigerate overnight or a minimum of 6 hours.
- To Serve: Remove the New York-style cheesecake from the fridge and run a knife along the side of the tin, then remove the the springform side. Place onto a serving plate and top with your choice of fruit, jelly or whatever you choose. Alternatively, cut slices and place on individual serving plates then place the topping on each piece (this is what I usually do).
Notes
Top with your choice of fruit, fruit filling, cream, syrups or chocolate sauce.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 128Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 109mgSodium: 107mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 1gSugar: 4gProtein: 4g
Nutrition information is only estimated.
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Hi Christina! I’m thinking of making your cheesecake recipe since it looks so beautiful in the photos! I followed a different recipe I found and it turned out looking amazing, but it tastes a lot eggy. Hopefully your recipe won’t be as eggy as he first one I made!
One question though, since I’m making this for someone who loves chocolate, do you think it would be ok to mix in a cup of chocolate chips to the filling? Will that affect the consistency of the cheesecake?
Will try to bake this tonight. I really have high hopes for this cake!
Hi Lloyd,
Sorry to hear you had an eggy tasting cheesecake recipe last time, but as long as you have good eggs, this one won’t taste eggy at all. However, the adding of the chocolate chips (I’m assuming they’d NOT be melted) should be okay, although I’ve never done it myself. I would maybe suggest adding half a cup the first time to see how it goes. Alternatively, you could add a chocolate ganache topping when the cheesecake has cooled (equal parts cream and chocolate melted together and poured over the top, then cooled). :) Yummy! Let me know how it goes!
CHristina
I been Making cheesecakes for a little while now. I’m still in a trial-and-error stage. I keep trying different recipes and I do the water bath and everything and my cheesecake still seems to crack what am I doing wrong? Thank you. 🤔😕
You’re not the first person to ask me this, and as perfectionistic and Type A as I am, I actually don’t care about cracks. I’ve done the same as you and used the water bath and left the cheesecake in the oven and sometimes, I still get cracks. Ultimately for me, the cheesecake tastes exactly the same and I never serve it plain, so I hide the crack with a spoonful of fruit topping or cream. :) Sorry I can’t be more helpful, but I haven’t cracked the no-crack cheesecake either. 😜
After you stop baking and it cools about 15-30 minutes, run a knife around the edges. Sometimes if it’s stuck a bit to the sides, it can’t rest well, and it cracks. Hope this helps!!
If you scratching because you take it out of the oven what temperature that you’re allowing it to cool around to different then where it came from. I find that putting mine on a wire rack on the kitchen table about 6 feet away for me seems to work.
If your cheesecake cracks it is due to it cooling down in a temperature that is a lot cooler . I put mine on an oven rack on the kitchen table 6 feet away from the oven- away from any cool drafts😊
Hi there, Christina! I’m so stoked to make this for this holiday season, and while I’ve read everything (along with other recipes online), I still have the one nagging question:
If you keep this cheesecake in the oven after the oven is turned off, won’t that just allow the cheesecake to cook further, and therefore risk being overcooked? Please explain this to my confused brain? Thank you so very much in advance. ♡
Hi Nikki, I believe that is part of the planned baking time. Yes, it will continue to cook, but it won’t overcook. Does that help? :) Enjoy the cheesecake, it’s yummy!
Have you ever tried using 1/2 cup of sour cream in this recipe vs. cream, and what would be the difference in taste?
Hi Sue, I haven’t and not sure what the taste and/or texture difference would be. Sour cream is much thicker and so if I were to try it, I would first do half cream and half sour cream to check. I have to add, I never buy or use sour cream anymore, but use labne instead. It’s so much better (in my opinion) than sour cream. See if you’re local grocery store carries it. I just had a friend try it and she said she wanted to eat the whole tub! :) Let me know if you try the cheesecake with the substitutions and how it turns out. CC
Hi Christina? How about for 4″ springform pan? Its just me and my husband at home so i want to make a smaller cake. Thanks!
Hi Rachel, honestly, a 4″ springform pan is an individual serving (it’s so small) and I would have no idea how long to tell you to bake it for and if you should divide all the ingredients by 3, 4 or 5. It would definitely get messy making all those changes. You have two options: make this as is and freeze most of it (cheesecakes freeze very well), or check out Dessert for Two. Her recipe is quite a bit different than mine and you won’t get the same texture making them in muffin cups vs a large cheesecake, so you’ll have to decide. If it was me, I’d stick mine in the freezer and/or give some away (this is my tactic on most of what I cook and bake as it’s just my husband and me, too)! :) https://www.dessertfortwo.com/mini-cheesecakes/
How about dividing them in 3 4″ springform pans instead?
Hi Rachel, I think you may need more than 3 pans and definitely don’t bake them as long. CC
Hi – we tried making this cheesecake today, followed the instructions to the T and had the ingredients at room temp. Unfortunately it started cracking while sitting in the turned off oven. Is there anything we can adjust to prevent this?
Hi Merks, baking it in a water bath can help avoid cracks. Keeping it in the oven after it’s been turned off is the another way to avoid cracks, which is why I included it. :) Happy Thanksgiving!
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