Creamy cheesecake in a pool of raspberry puree. Photo by Kelly Cline.
May 2006
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Great Cheesecake Recipes
From Classic New York Cheesecake To Fancy Grand Marnier Cheesecake...You’ll Want To Make All Of Them
A cheesecake is actually not a cake but a pie: It’s a cheese custard pie with a bottom crust. But no one will split hairs—everyone’s too much in love with this most delicious of desserts. (There are savory cheesecakes too, and you can enjoy them with a glass of wine for an appetizer. Read our review of Savory Secret savory cheesecakes.)
We’re collecting some of our favorite cheesecake recipes here. Of our first three cheesecakes, two use mascarpone, the “Italian cream cheese.” One is the best variation of a New York cream cheese cake we’ve ever had, from NIBBLE Editor Karen Hochman’s mother.
Michael Chiarello’s Mascarpone Cheesecake
Michael Chiarello, host of the eponymous Public Television Series Michael Chiarello's Napa, has compiled some of the best recipes from the series into a cookbook. Here is one of them: the entire cookbook can be had for $35.00 (click here).
Serves 10
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter or vegetable oil cooking spray for the cake pan
- 1 1/2 cups fine biscotti crumbs (made in a food processor) or other cookie crumbs (you’ll need about 1/2 pound biscotti to make the 1-1/2 cups of crumbs for the crust)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1 pound mascarpone cheese
- Boiling water as needed
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Butter or spray the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Wrap the outside of the pan with 2 layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil to prevent leakage. The foil should come all the way up the sides of the pan because the cheesecake will bake in a water bath.
- In a bowl, mix the crumbs and butter well. Pat the mixture firmly into place on the bottom of the prepared pan and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- In an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until completely blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Add the lemon juice and lemon zest, then add the mascarpone and beat until smooth. Pour into the prepared pan.
- Place the cake pan in a larger pan and add boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake for 1 hour, rotating the pan after 30 minutes for even cooking. It will be lightly colored on the top. Remove from the oven and let cool in the water bath. As it cools, it will shrink a little from the sides of the pan.
- When completely cool, remove the pan sides and slide the cheesecake onto a plate. Cover and refrigerate. Serve chilled.
Karen Harper’s Grand Marnier Mascarpone Cheesecake
From Chef Karen Harper, pastry chef for the Black Rabbit restaurant at McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale, Oregon, courtesy of Chef Harper and Mozzarella Fresca. The cheesecake must be made a day in advance.
For Cheesecake
All refrigerated ingredients should be at room temperature.
 1-½ pounds mascarpone (you can
substitute
cream cheese)- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
- 3 large eggs
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- For garnish: orange slices marinated
in Grand Marnier
Directions
Must be done in advance; cover and refrigerate.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F.
- Beat the mascarpone/cream cheese until creamy. Gradually beat in the sugar, salt and Grand Marnier.
- One at a time add the eggs, scraping the sides of the bowl often.
- Scrape batter into the crust and smooth the top. Bake on a cookie sheet until the center barely jiggles when the pan is tapped, 45 to 55 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 2 hours.
- Unmold, cover and refrigerate overnight.
Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust
Ingredients
- 16 squares chocolate graham crackers
- 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
- 10" springform pan
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a food processor, blend graham crackers and butter until completely incorporated.
- Mash the crumb mixture evenly into bottom of a 10” springform pan. Bake 10 minutes; cool completely.
Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
- 8 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate (use top quality chocolate)
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier®
Directions
Can be done in advance, covered and refrigerated.
- Bring cream just to the boil. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate till incorporated.
- Using a whisk, very gently stir in Grand Marnier. Let ganache cool till is thick enough to spread. If ganache becomes too thick, warm it in a water bath or double boiler.
Candied Orange Slices
Ingredients
- 2 unpeeled oranges, sliced from top to bottom in ¼" thick slices
- 4 cups sugar
- 4 cups water
Directions
- Can be done in advance, covered and refrigerated.
- Boil orange slices in water for 10 minutes, gently stirring occasionally.
- Stir in sugar and cook for another five minutes. Remove orange slices with tongs to a baking sheet and allow them to cool completely. Reserve the orange simple syrup for other culinary uses,
Mousse
Do not do this step till ready to build the dessert.
Ingredients
- 2 cups mascarpone
- Zest from 1 orange
- 2 cups heavy cream, whipped stiff
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
- 2 tablespoons cold water
Directions
- Using an electric mixer, beat mascarpone, zest and sugar on medium for 1 minute; beat cream in separate bowls till stiff peaks form.
- Bloom gelatin in water. With mixer on medium speed, quickly drizzle gelatin into mascarpone. Immediately fold in whipped cream.
- Dissolve gelatin in water and fold into mascarpone mixture. Then fold in whipped cream.
- Smooth mixture over chocolate cookie crust and chill for at least four hours.
Building The Dessert
- Place the ring mold used for baking the cheesecake back on.
- Spread the ganache over the top of the cheesecake, then the mousse.
- Remove ring before serving. Garnish with candied orange slices. Buon Appetito!
Joan Hochman’s Sour Cream Topping Cheesecake
Developed by the mother of the founder of THE NIBBLE, our editorial director was raised on this recipe. It features a 1" top layer of baked, sweetened sour cream, and needs to be made one day in advance.
Ingredients ~ Bottom Layer
All refrigerated ingredients should be at room temperature.
- 2 pounds of cream cheese (use organic cream cheese or Philadelphia® brand; other brands can be too pasty)
- 1-1/3 cups sugar
- 5 jumbo eggs
- 2 teaspoons of real vanilla extract, preferably Madagascar (Bourbon) or Mexican vanilla
- 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
Directions
 Preheat oven to 325°F.- Mix the ingredients gently, with electric beaters on low, until just combined. Don’t over-mix (you don’t want to beat in air). If there are lumps, sieve through a food mill or strainer.
- Beat in eggs one at a time; then add the vanilla.
Crust
- 1/2 box Zwieback® (12 rusks), ground with a rolling pin between hand towels or pulsed in a food processor
- 1/2 stick (1/8 pound) melted unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon good-quality ground cinnamon, preferably Cassia/Saigon* (if your container has been opened for more than a year, it’s time to replace it)
*Cinnamon is the fine inner skin of fragrant tree bark, the cinnamon and cassia trees, which grow wild throughout Asia. There are two principle types of cinnamon: Cassia or “Saigon” and Ceylon. Cassia cinnamon, from the cassia tree, is native to Southeast Asia, especially southern China and northern Vietnam, and has the strong, spicy-sweet flavor most Americans are familiar with. Vietnamese and Chinese cassia are the sweetest and strongest varieties. Vietnamese cinnamon is considered by many to be the world’s finest cinnamon; it and the Chinese cassia are sweeter, more aromatic and more powerful than the Indonesian Korintje cassia cinnamon commonly sold in supermarkets. The second type of cinnamon, Ceylon, or “true” cinnamon from the cinnamon tree, has a much different flavor: a less sweet, more complex, citrusy flavor. Ceylon cinnamon is also known as “old-fashioned cinnamon” and is the preferred cinnamon in many areas: the special flavors of English and Mexican sweets comes from Ceylon cinnamon.
Directions
- Line the outside of a 9-inch springform pan (preferably a shiny aluminum pan) with foil around the bottom and to 1/2" about the bottom rim, so that if there is any leakage it stays within. Press the foil tightly to seal.
- Lightly grease the pan with butter. Press the majority crumb mixture on the bottom with a light sprinkling around the sides.
- Gently pour in the batter. Place on the middle shelf. Bake for 75 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR.
- Remove, cool for 5 minutes.
- Pour cheese mixture into pan and bake for 25 minutes.
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Ingredients ~ Top Layer
 1 pint sour cream - 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons sugar
Directions
- Mix ingredients and gently spread over the top of the cheesecake.
- Bake bake for 12 minutes.
- Remove, cool, and age at least 1 day: it gets better with a day or two of age.
- It’s delicious plain or served with a side of fresh strawberries or raspberries and berry puree.
© Copyright 2005-2008 Lifestyle Direct, Inc. All rights reserved. Images are the copyright of their respective owners.
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