Classic New York Style Cherry Cheesecake

By fortheloveofitaliancooking

Learn how to make this creamy, luscious, crack-free, not-too-sweet, cheesecake without a water bath. The hardest part is waiting for it to set overnight in the oven, and then in the fridge, before diving into this self-indulgent dessert.

Ingredients

• CRUST:
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs or crumbled digestive biscuits
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• FILLING:
• 2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 4 eggs
• 1 can cherry pie filling

Details

Servings 10
Adapted from fortheloveofitaliancooking.com

Preparation

Step 1

FOR THE CRUST: Preheat oven to 400 °F (200 °C). In a large springform pan (10 inches or 26 cm in diameter), mix crumbs, melted butter and sugar well together. Press firmly onto bottom of pan. Bake for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside. NOTE: The crust recipe can be doubled if you also wish to have a crust on the side of the cheesecake.

FOR THE FILLING: In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, flour, sugar, vanilla and heavy cream with an electric mixer on low speed until well blended. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating just until combined after each addition (don’t over mix the batter).

Pour batter into prepared springform pan and bake at 400 °F (200 °C) for 10 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 300 °F (150 °C). Continue baking for another 40 minutes.

After the baking time is up, gently shake the pan back and forth. The cheesecake should be evenly baked through and uniformly wobbly, but if only the centre is wobbly (about the size of a baseball or roughly 10 cm), it is also fine. Remove cheesecake from oven and carefully run a knife along the edge to loosen the cheesecake from the pan. Place it back in the oven with the heat turned off. Leave the cheesecake over night, with the oven door shut. Put the cheesecake in the fridge the next day for a minimum of 4 hours and up to 24 hours. Top with cherry pie filling or your favorite topping before serving.

MAKES 12-16 SLICES (depending on how thick you slice them)