New York Style Cheesecake

I started this blog in 2011.  On and off I've shared recipes and such with you all these years.  Now I married Mr. Devilish Dish in 1994.  This has been his chosen Birthday Cake in all of those years of marriage.  If you do the math that means I've made him 31 of these cakes.  Give or take a couple of years.  Plus all of the times I've made it for Little Devil and the Devilish Nephew, because they too request this for their birthday every year.  That means I've probably made this cake AT LEAST 50 times, and I've been sharing recipes with you all for 14 YEARS, and I've never shared this!  What the heck?!? This is truly our family recipe.  There is nothing fancy about it.  No "turtle business." No chocolate sauce.  No swirls of any kind.  Just a PLAIN 'OL New York Cheesecake.  It is creamy and decadent and the texture is to die for.  Sometimes I'll serve it with a raspberry coulis because the kids like it that way, but honestly it needs nothing.  It's just a handful of ingredients, baked the traditional way and results in a beautifully textured dream.  Over the years I've had mixed results with the top cracking.  When we were first married we had a gas oven and those were the years of the best cheesecakes.  Until recently we had a series of subpar electric ovens and usually had cracked cheesecakes. Don't get me wrong, they still taste absolutely fabulous, but I want perfection.  We recently replaced our electric stove and oven with a gas stove, so I was anxious for Mr. Devilish Dish's birthday to get here, to test out this recipe again.  Perfection!  One tip I will say, after years of trial and error is to follow the recipe exactly - ESPECIALLY the part about cooling it in the oven with the heat turned off.  AND I used a wooden spoon to prop the oven door open.  I've read this is the best way to prevent cracking.  If it cracks? Who cares.  You can hide that with raspberry sauce!

A true Family Favorite!

The perfect top! No Cracks!

This is thick and indulgent
and soooo good.

Just look at that perfect texture.

No wonder the whole family requests
this for their birthday cake.

THE BEST NEW YORK STYLE CHEESECAKE

For the Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Place the crumbs in a bowl and stir in melted butter and sugar.  Mix well.  Press into the base of a Springform pan, making sure the mixture is tightly-packed and even across the base of the pan.

(NOTE: We prefer a thinner base/less crust ratio at our house, so sometimes I don't use all of this mixture.  I also do not press the crumbs up the sides of the pan.  How much you use is up to you.  We just enjoy the flavor of the cake so much, we prefer less crumbs.)

For the Cake:

2 pounds plain cream cheese
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (if you like the look of the specks)
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup whole sour cream

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  In a large bowl by hand or bowl of a stand mixer: Beat together the cream cheese and granulated sugar until smooth and light. 

Beat in the eggs, vanilla and cornstarch until thoroughly mixed.  Stir in the sour cream until everything is well blended.  Pour the mixture into the prepared crust and bake for 45 minutes.  Turn the oven off, prop the oven door open slightly with a wooden spoon and allow the cake to cool in the oven (with the door propped open) for 3 hours.  Remove, cover and chill overnight.