Creamy Cheesecake Recipe

creamy_cheesecake.txt

Ingredients
* Crust
    * 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
    * 1/4 cup white sugar
    * 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    * 1/3 cup butter, melted
* Sauce
    * 20 oz packages pitted dark sweet cherries.
    * 3 tbsp cornstarch
    * 2 cup sugar.
* Base
    * 750g cream cheese
        * I prefer the soft deli style cream cheese as it produces a creamier cheesecake, but if you prefer a firmer custard then Philadelphia cream cheese is best.
    * 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
    * 1/4 cup lemon juice
    * 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    * 3 eggs
Equipment Required
1. Roasting pan large and deep enough to contain the springform pan and 2” of water.
2. 9” springform pan.
3. Food processor with standard S-blade.
4. Sauce pan.
Instructions
1. Preparing the Pan
    1. Take un-greased 9-inch springform pan, and wrap two layers of aluminium foil around the base and up the sides. If your aluminium foil roll is too short, join two narrower sheets with a double lock flat seam. Make sure the seam is water tight; if it leaks you’ll end up with a soggy cheesecake bottom.
2. Warm-Up
    1. Let base ingredients rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before use.
3. Crust
    1. Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, and butter in a bowl.
    2. Press onto the bottom of the pan.
    3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Sauce
    1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
    2. Place fruit and cornstarch into a blender.
    3. Cover and puree until smooth.
        1. If you prefer to have some chunks of fruit, you can safely give it only a light blending instead. The cooking process will break up some of the fruit.
    4. Pour fruit sauce into a saucepan.
    5. Bring to a boil over high heat.
    6. Boil and stir until sauce is thick and shiny, about 2 minutes.
    7. Reduce temperate to medium and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent the bottom from burning. You’ll want to do this until the sauce remaining is thick and bubbles slowly.
    8. Set aside 2/3 cup sauce; cool. Cover and refrigerate remaining sauce for serving.
5. Base
    1. Beat cream cheese in a food processor with S-blade attachment until light and fluffy.
    2. Mix in lemon juice and vanilla extract and blend on high speed until completely smooth.
        1. Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula periodically.
        2. By the end it should be so smooth and light that it’s a thick liquid.
        3. It is far safer to blend too much at this stage rather than too little. 
    3. Add condensed milk and blend on high speed until fully integrated.
    4. Beat in eggs on low speed until just combined.
        1. You want to avoid blending too much at this stage, adding eggs creates the potential to create air pockets which create unsightly cracks and holes. (needs to be validated)
    5. Pour half of cream cheese mixture over crust; drop reserved sauce by 1/2 teaspoonfuls on cream cheese layer.
    6. Cut through top layer only with a knife to swirl sauce.
    7. Take roasting pan and place the cheesecake in the middle of it. Add 2” of water to roasting pan.
    8. Bake in preheated oven until center is almost set, 45 to 50 minutes.
        1. Do not open the over door at any point; temperature variations will cause surface cracking.
    9. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
    10. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer.
    11. Refrigerate overnight.
    12. Serve reserved sauce with cheesecake. If the sauce it too thick, stir in water.