July 24, 2008
Tags: baking, cheesecake, sweet | Print this recipe
It was my boyfriend’s birthday last weekend and I wanted to make him something special despite the fact that he didn’t really want to celebrate his birthday. The problem is that he doesn’t like many traditional desserts, most especially cake. I can’t even conceive of disliking cake, but somehow he does. Thankfully, though, he does love cheesecake (which he vehemently insists is not really a cake, so much does the taint of the word “cake” bother him). But even having found a dessert he actually likes, he’s almost impossible to entirely please because every single cheesecake I’ve made for him in the past, though always praised as “good” comes with the disclaimer of “but not as good as the New York cheesecake I had that one time”. AAARRRRRRGGGGGGG! So I have made it my mission of find and make a real New York style cheesecake and this time I think I found it. I actually got a “I really like this” out of him, no disclaimers!
This is sort of a mish-mash of a recipe. I cobbled together a recipe from several cheesecake recipes over on allrecipes.com (it’s mostly based on this recipe, though), but I didn’t want a boring graham cracker crust, so I modified a standard crust recipe and used ground up oreo cookies instead (Brandon loves oreos!). Also I followed the instructions of some of the commenters on the recipes, so in the end the final recipe doesn’t resemble the original one that much. But it’s delicious and from what I can tell it’s true New York style cheesecake and the best thing of all is that it’s the only cheesecake I’ve ever made that didn’t crack down the middle. In fact when it came out the oven I was a little worried because it doesn’t look like any cheesecake I’ve ever made. It kind of looked undercooked actually, but no, it’s the smoothest, creamiest cheesecake I’ve ever had. This is definitely my cheesecake recipe for life.
Cheesecake Supreme with Oreo Cookie Crust
Ingredients
Crust:
- 2-3 cups Oreo cookies with cream center removed, finely ground. I found this is almost a whole bag. How many cups you use depends on how thick you like your crust, but I think thicker is better with this crust.
- 5-6 tbsp. of butter
- 1/3 cup of sugar
- 1/8 tsp. salt
Cheesecake:
- 5 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
- 5 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
The Process
1. Get out your cream cheese, eggs and cream and let sit while making the crust so that they are at or close to room temp by the time you need them.
2. Grind up cookies in a blender or food processor. Mix cookies, sugar, salt and butter in a bowl until combined and press into the bottom and about an inch or two up the sides of a 10″ springform pan (springform pan is key, make sure you have one). Place in refrigerator while you make the cheesecake.
3. DO NOT PREHEAT YOUR OVEN. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, eggs, egg yolks and vanilla; mix until smooth. Add in the sugar, flour and heavy cream and blend until smooth. Do not over-mix as this will create more air bubbles which can contribute to your cake cracking. Pour batter into your prepared, chilled crust.
4. Place your cake in the oven and then turn it on to 200 degrees (F). Bake for 3 hours and 10 minutes. Then turn the over off, prop open the door slightly and let cool for 1 hour. Finally, place in your refrigerator and chill for a full 24 hours before removing the springform pan’s side and serving.
UPDATE – 12/4/08: After making this recipe again, I tried a slightly different way to cook this that solves the problem of it looking undercooked. It also makes it more like a real New York cheesecake by browning the top and sides just a bit.
4. Place your cake in the oven and then turn it on to 400 degrees (F). Bake for 10 minutes. Turn the oven down to 200 degrees (F). Bake for 3 hours. Then turn the over off, prop open the door slightly and let cool for 1 hour. Finally, place in your refrigerator and chill for a full 24 hours before removing the springform pan’s side and serving.
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Emiline
That looks amazing! I love Oreo cookie crusts. I bet this would taste good – look how many eggs & cream cheese it has! I don’t think I’ve ever baked a cheesecake at such a low temperature, and for so long. I’ll have to try this method.
July 25, 2008 at 2:21 pm |
shaz
I’m with your boyfriend! this post made me smile. LOVE the site!!
definitely subscribing!
July 25, 2008 at 2:53 pm |
JEP
Cheesecake…my all time favorite dessert
July 28, 2008 at 7:53 pm |
Specs
Excellent Recipe! LOL, ‘the New York Cheesecake’ is something i’d also had to live up to with my family, so ignore it. :p
Awesome site.
August 3, 2008 at 7:28 am |
Native NYer
I tried this recipe because, like your boyfriend, I love a proper New York style cheesecake. The addition of the Oreo cookie crust sold me completely.
On trying the finished product, however, I have to say that, while DELICIOUS, this really was not what I would call a real NY style cake. I found this cake way too creamy, almost gooey.
A real NY style cake is dense and heavy, but ever so slightly more crumbly and flakier (I suppose it is drier). If you look at all of the recipes that purport to be the “Authentic original Lindy’s Cheesecake” – the gold standard cake by which all others appear to be judged – all of the recipes suggest baking the cake in a VERY hot (500 degrees) pre-heated oven for a short time (10-15 minutes), then turning down the heat to bake for an hour plus more. I suppose this blast of intense heat is what makes most cheesecakes crack, but putting a pan of hot water at the bottom of the oven should solve that problem, (as doing so essentially turns your oven into a steam oven). The intense heat gives the classic cheesecake a golden “crust” that your slow-baked cake did not have. Whereas some folks might like that, I thought your cake suffered a bit for this, and seemed undercooked.
This is not to say that the taste of yours was unappealing, I just thought the unctious creaminess was not what was intended for the classic New York cake.
August 23, 2008 at 11:45 am |
James
I have to disagree with you.I made this recipe with perfect results.Not every oven is the same and unless your temps are just right, any recipe won’t work for yours all the time.Trial and error I say.I’ve been baking professionally for 15 years. and so know this all to well.All you have to do is adjust the heat a little bit higher if your cheesecake is to creamy.Mine turned out nice but I callibrate my oven every year as they are known to lose a bit of there heat over time.
January 5, 2009 at 1:09 pm |
Emily
Well, I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never had REAL New York Cheesecake and I know my boyfriend hasn’t had any for at least 15 years, so he certainly isn’t an expert either. I do think whatever you want to call it, it’s the best cheesecake I’ve ever made before and I’ve tried several different recipes.
Actually, though, the original recipe I linked to did call for a high temp for the first 10 minutes and then to turn it way down, but almost all the commenters warned against this which is why I didn’t do it that way. I’ll try it that way next time and see if I like it better or not.
Thanks for the feedback!
August 23, 2008 at 9:49 pm |
anonymous
Hey,
I’m just asking if you know a good recipe for a cheesecake. It has to be without nuts and without cream. I’m making it for a really big morning tea at school. I would like a cheesecake that would be liked by children.
May 25, 2009 at 3:49 am |
Emily
Well, honestly, this is the only cheesecake recipe I have. I threw all my old ones out because I LOVE this one so much. If you need to find one without cream, I’d recommend looking on recipe sites like allrecipes.com or recipezaar.com, you’ll find tons of different cheesecake recipes on those and you should be able to find one to your specifications.
May 25, 2009 at 5:20 pm |
Marcus
I don’t know anything about NY cheesecakes but I love the “undercooked” look of yours, it looks almost like a non-bake cheesecake. Or like a big wonderful cheese! I’ve already made four cheesecakes last month so I’ll hold off for a while but I’m definitely bookmarking this one.
June 9, 2009 at 5:35 pm |
Leigh Ann
I LOVE this recipe! I made it for my sister-in-law’s wedding in December, and I’m so glad to see your post about the baking temp update – I too have been concerned about the slightly-underbaked look (although it is truly delicious). Thanks a bunch for the tip!
I recently made it with a strawberry topping – delish! Here’s the link: http://thesharpnotes.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/strawberry-cheesecake/
Leigh Ann´s last blog ..Sweet Baby
August 5, 2009 at 1:02 pm |
Kim
I want to try this recipe with the cooking modifications you made. Just one question. When you say to turn the oven on to 400 and cook for 10 minutes, do you mean 10 minutes from the time you put it in the oven, or 10 minutes after the temperature reaches 400? My oven takes a while to get that hot, so I want to make sure it gets enough of a blast of high heat. Thanks for your recipe!
December 23, 2009 at 3:21 pm |
Emily
No, you don’t need to preheat the oven. Just put it in there and turn the oven on. The initial high temp basically just browns the top and sides a bit so it looks nicer (and not undercooked). You could probably keep it at 400 for about 15 minutes if your oven takes a really long time to heat up, but I wouldn’t do it any longer than that.
December 23, 2009 at 3:46 pm |
swi
if you normally have a problem with your cheesecake cracking, try (once the cake is done) turning the oven off and only opening the door a crack (i usually put a wooden spoon in to hold it open about an inch) and letting it cool for a few hours in there. that way it cools down really slowly and shouldn’t crack!
(keep in mind though that you’re leaving it in the hot oven for longer, even if its turned off, so you might want to cut the baking time a little)
May 7, 2010 at 4:31 pm |
Kim Throop
I am trying it this week for my husband’s and son’s birthday . . . I will try and let you know how it turned it. It looks fabulous!
Kim
August 10, 2010 at 9:52 am |
Kim
I just made it – it was wonderful! Just like Eli’s here in Chicago. And NO CRACKS!!
August 12, 2010 at 10:04 pm |
Emily
Awesome! I’m glad you liked it. It’s my go-to cheesecake recipe now, I haven’t found any others that compare.
August 13, 2010 at 5:08 pm |