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Creating a Perfect Cheesecake


M3brewboy

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We used to make a double chocolate cheesecake - bottom layer dark chocolate, top layer white. Adding the melted chocolate to the batter makes it quite stiff. You could try adding some melted white chocolate to your coconut layer - then just pour a lime layer on top and bake.

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What about pouring the first flavour into the pan and freezing it uncooked, layering the top flavour and then baking it? On paper it looks like it could work...

This is exactly the technique Maida Heatter uses for her triple layer cheesecake (it's a vanilla/hazelnut bottom layer, chocolate middle layer and vanilla top layer). The first layer freezes for about an hour (the rest of the batter stays at rm tmp) the second layer freezes for about 20-30 mins and the last layer goes on and the whole thing goes into the oven to bake. It takes a little longer because the first two layers are frozen but it's great. Hope this works for your recipe.

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We just baked one cheesecake with the crust and one cheesecake without crust. Then just stack 'em like layer cake. I freeze mine to stack. My job did not allow me to do this (freezing) so it is possible to stack them not frozen but you gotta' get it just right the first time. I recommend freezing first for best handling.

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I guess you always have the option of par cooking (stove top) both batters to thicken them as is or with a gum to stabalize them. Then pour a cooled batch on top of a set batch, allow them to chill and then bake.

I dont see why it wouldnt work, if your slow with the par cooking.

Dean Anthony Anderson

"If all you have to eat is an egg, you had better know how to cook it properly" ~ Herve This

Pastry Chef: One If By Land Two If By Sea

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I baked the 2 cheesecakes by pre-baking the bottom layer (coconut) and pouring the top layer (key lime) over top.

Some observations:

I had to watch the bottom layer like a hawk since I was baking in a sheetpan, not my usual 9" pan. Once the cheesecake began to set I poured the top layer on.

I noticed that the top layer poured into the bottom layer, giving the appearance that the 2 batters were mixing. That was frustrating! (I really thought the bottom layer was set, but "set" and "not moving" must be 2 different things!)

I popped the pan back in the oven and baked until the top layer was done, barely.

Ran my palatte knife around the edges and left it to cool, where it developed the crack from hell.

I cut it into bite-sized service pieces today and noticed that the 2 batters did NOT mix, but layered beautifully. The taste is fabulous and the consistency of the 2 cheesecakes is very similar.

Would the temperature difference between the 2 cheesecakes cause the crack, or do you think it's the usual culprits of overbaking and/or overmixing?

Each layer is almost an inch in height - would that have anything to do with the crack?

Thanks for the suggestions. Next time I need to bake a multi-layered cheesecake I'll try the freezing method.

Beaches Pastry

May your celebrations be sweet!

Beaches Pastry Blog

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We just baked one cheesecake with the crust and one cheesecake without crust. Then just stack 'em like layer cake. I freeze mine to stack. My job did not allow me to do this (freezing) so it is possible to stack them not frozen but you gotta' get it just right the first time. I recommend freezing first for best handling.

Did you have a problem with the layers sliding or separating?

I considered putting something in the center of the layers, such as raspberry jam (with my flavor combo) or chocolate to act as a "glue".

Beaches Pastry

May your celebrations be sweet!

Beaches Pastry Blog

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We just baked one cheesecake with the crust and one cheesecake without crust. Then just stack 'em like layer cake. I freeze mine to stack. My job did not allow me to do this (freezing) so it is possible to stack them not frozen but you gotta' get it just right the first time. I recommend freezing first for best handling.

Did you have a problem with the layers sliding or separating?

I considered putting something in the center of the layers, such as raspberry jam (with my flavor combo) or chocolate to act as a "glue".

Yes they slide off perfectly and unfortunately because unless frozen you can't slide them back together right. Then they don't travel well after you've upset them a bit. You have to get it perfect the first time. We used fruit filling. :rolleyes: It made me flat nuts to set these up unfrozen. We used ganache for the dam, y'know, around the edge & the filling goes inside. Ganache is great glue for this.

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  • 2 weeks later...
For the record, I bake at a really, really low temp (225 in a convection oven) b/c i was having lots of trouble with curdling last year.  I leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour or so after baking and don't use a water bath. (sometimes I'll push the steam button if I feel like it, but one of my ovens cooks really moist, so I just usually bake in there). 

Marjorie

Has anyone successfully baked cheesecake in a convection oven with a very strong fan that can't be turned off? Any suggestions?

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For the record, I bake at a really, really low temp (225 in a convection oven) b/c i was having lots of trouble with curdling last year.  I leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour or so after baking and don't use a water bath. (sometimes I'll push the steam button if I feel like it, but one of my ovens cooks really moist, so I just usually bake in there). 

Marjorie

Has anyone successfully baked cheesecake in a convection oven with a very strong fan that can't be turned off? Any suggestions?

could you tent the cakes with foil or a lid or something until they set up?

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For the record, I bake at a really, really low temp (225 in a convection oven) b/c i was having lots of trouble with curdling last year.  I leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour or so after baking and don't use a water bath. (sometimes I'll push the steam button if I feel like it, but one of my ovens cooks really moist, so I just usually bake in there). 

Marjorie

Has anyone successfully baked cheesecake in a convection oven with a very strong fan that can't be turned off? Any suggestions?

could you tent the cakes with foil or a lid or something until they set up?

Monday was my first time using this oven. I covered the cheesecakes with foil and placed them in a waterbath in the oven at 300 degrees. I had to refill the water twice during a 1 1/2 hour cooking time. At the very end of the cooking time a couple of them ran out of water again and souffled up to stick to the foil and were completely ruined. Out of 12 cheesecakes, only 4 came out usable. I think I caught them at exactly the right moment. Another 4 were underdone in the center, even after chilling overnight.

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For the record, I bake at a really, really low temp (225 in a convection oven) b/c i was having lots of trouble with curdling last year.  I leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour or so after baking and don't use a water bath. (sometimes I'll push the steam button if I feel like it, but one of my ovens cooks really moist, so I just usually bake in there). 

Marjorie

Has anyone successfully baked cheesecake in a convection oven with a very strong fan that can't be turned off? Any suggestions?

could you tent the cakes with foil or a lid or something until they set up?

Monday was my first time using this oven. I covered the cheesecakes with foil and placed them in a waterbath in the oven at 300 degrees. I had to refill the water twice during a 1 1/2 hour cooking time. At the very end of the cooking time a couple of them ran out of water again and souffled up to stick to the foil and were completely ruined. Out of 12 cheesecakes, only 4 came out usable. I think I caught them at exactly the right moment. Another 4 were underdone in the center, even after chilling overnight.

did you put the foil just over the cheesecakes or over the entire waterbath with the cheesecakes inside of it (like you'd do for creme brulee)? if you follow the latter method, the water can't evaporate and your cheesecakes are less likely to overbake. don't know how it affects the texture as you're partially steaming, but it probably works okay in convection.

remember that convection ovens tend to run hotter/cook faster because of the fan circulating the heat. i usually turn mine down by 25 degrees compared to a still oven. so i'd bake cheesecake at 275 in a convection.

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I bake 15-30 cheesecakes 5 days a week, and I agree that there are at least 101 different answers for this. Most of my problems seem to result from air bubbles, sometimes air pockets rise and cause cracks, I have even seen pockets of air above the crust once cooled and cut.

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11736665..._3963_23472.jpg

and then the cancer air bubbles.

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11653792...3963_786927.jpg

I use regular cake pans (for durability). I do agree that hot spots can make a huge difference and I rotate quite often.

I do large enough volume that I use 30lb blocks of cream cheese and bringing tto room temp is not always feasible, especially with a North Dakota winter and my hoods on. It is amazing the volume difference between room temp and cold cream cheese(4 Qts.) I also think acids will have quite an effect on coloring and cracking, my key lime using a key lime frozen concentrate, cracks 90% of the time. And I assure you they arent overbaked.

While on the topic of cheesecakes, I baked a chocolate caramel oreo cheesecake for this years "Death by Chocolate" girl scouts fundraiser baking competition and won "peoples choice"

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11649954...3963_344418.jpg

Edited by Mr. Delicious (log)
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I baked a chocolate caramel oreo cheesecake for this years "Death by Chocolate" girl scouts fundraiser baking competition and won "peoples choice"

And, of course, diligently posted the recipe in RecipeGullet? :biggrin:

Life is short. Eat the roasted cauliflower first.

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I tried again today. I baked two cheesecakes. Same batter divided into two pans. 250 degrees. Water bath. One cheesecake covered tightly with foil, one not covered. The uncovered one appeared done in 1 hour. The covered one took two hours to seem done. After cooling, the uncovered one looked great. The one that had been covered had developed a crack. I'm thinking I may have overbaked the covered one, leading to the crack. But, it really didn't look done. Also, the crack didn't appear until about a half hour after removing from the oven, while cooling on the counter. Final analysis tomorrow after chilling overnight and cutting.

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I baked a chocolate caramel oreo cheesecake for this years "Death by Chocolate" girl scouts fundraiser baking competition and won "peoples choice"

And, of course, diligently posted the recipe in RecipeGullet? :biggrin:

Sorry I really dont have a recipe (just for basic batter) but it had oreo crust, dark chocolate incorporated in batter, then caramel and oreo crumbs in batter, with a little chocolate swirl. Just my twist on the classic turtle, nothing too crazy.

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Well, the texture of the cheesecakes is off. I've been using this recipe for years. They should be dense and creamy. These (baked yesterday) are somewhat "fluffy"? They aren't "smooth". I sliced them today but the slices broke when trying to remove them. They are too soft. I even had trouble slicing them. I want to cry. I was supposed to deliver samples to a few business today but there's no way I'm delivering these. I guess I"ll be using the regular oven and just doing 4 at a time until I can figure out what to do.

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  • 4 months later...

I am working on a dessert with cheesecake in two ways, one creamy and the other lighter, more like a mousse. I would also like to be able to freeze the mousse version for even more contrast. I have found a few cheesecake mousse recipes online, they seem ok, but I would really like to be able to dispense the mousse version from an ISI whip cream dispenser. Any help, suggestions would be appreciated.

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  • 8 months later...

I made a dulce de leche cheesecake and used a water bath ....how stupid ..I never had more than a tiny crack in the top of my cakes and who cares but a perfectionist anyway? ..but i wanted it to be perfect today ..so I thought what the heck and tried putting a pan of hot water in the oven under the cake...

well it is CAVERNOUS ..there are huge valleys and mountains and caves ...it is horrible I have no idea what the Hell happened? this recipe is basic cheesecake I have made it a million times...

I can not toss it out it is too late to make another dessert for dinner today ..what can I do to make it look better???

should I just top it with whipping cream? ..serve it cavernous and pretend it was supposed to be like that? ...or ..is there another spackle I could use to cover this that would not take over the cake? give me something please because my brain just exploded and I have no cells left to work with here

I am so upset ...this cake looks really bad ..

Edited by hummingbirdkiss (log)
why am I always at the bottom and why is everything so high? 

why must there be so little me and so much sky?

Piglet 

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your cheesecake may have been overbeaten, because the cracks are the eggs rising and falling...or you may have overbaked slightly.

you can easily mask this with a cream cheese mousse...using the paddle, whip a bit of cream cheese with some sugar, then gradually add some whipping cream until the mixture is homogeneous, then switch to the whisk and whip to stiff peaks...you can use the mousse to spackle the cracked top of your cheesecake (but not the sides). it will be whiter than the filling (so it will show when you cut it), but it will at least make the top look nice.

then, since you're dulce de leche, if you have any caramel substance, you can drizzle this over the cheesecake.

i do this all the time because it makes a nice white backdrop say for lemon curd or whatever you want on top.

a good ratio is 6oz cream cheese, 2 oz sugar, and 12 oz cream with about 1T vanilla added after beating.

Stephanie Crocker

Sugar Bakery + Cafe

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your cheesecake may have been overbeaten, because the cracks are the eggs rising and falling...or you may have overbaked slightly.

you can easily mask this with a cream cheese mousse...using the paddle, whip a bit of cream cheese with some sugar, then gradually add some whipping cream until the mixture is homogeneous, then switch to the whisk and whip to stiff peaks...you can use the mousse to spackle the cracked top of your cheesecake (but not the sides). it will be whiter than the filling (so it will show when you cut it), but it will at least make the top look nice.

then, since you're dulce de leche, if you have any caramel substance, you can drizzle this over the cheesecake.

i do this all the time because it makes a nice white backdrop say for lemon curd or whatever you want on top.

a good ratio is 6oz cream cheese, 2 oz sugar, and 12 oz cream with about 1T vanilla added after beating.

you are so awesome thank you!!!! OOO

XXX I am going to do this!!!

...I will take a picture maybe :raz:

why am I always at the bottom and why is everything so high? 

why must there be so little me and so much sky?

Piglet 

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Cheesecakes are one thing that I never have trouble with. Not quite sure why, but I've made a bunch in my day. And I hate cracks, so here's what I do. First, the water bath. Second, never overmix. I do mine in a blender typically and stop the very second its mixed. Third, I butter my springform and then line it with parchment strips. I think this has more to do with it than anything else because it allows the out walls of the cake to contract without sticking. Fourth, I do the slow cool in the oven thing - you know turn off the oven, crack the door and let it sit til room temp. Not sure if this matters, but fifth, all of my ingredients are always at room temp.

I'm not sure which is the magic, or if its the combination, but it always does it for me.

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