Creating a Perfect Cheesecake

[hummingbirdkiss]

Texas Chainsaw Cheesecake!!!

with the mousse below ..it does look better at least I am not mortified! I just have to slide it (carefully) onto a nice plate (not on the floor) and sprinkle some toasted almonds on top ...(thanks so much Sugarseattle my sweet neighbor up north..it will be fine my friends are not that judgmental( ..we can eat dessert by the fire in the dark and no one will notice maybe?

If only my food looked as good as it tastes!!!..the visual appeal is just not there!

Edited March 30, 2008 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[gfron1]

What the F%$& is that! OMG Heidi! But, on a positive note...great save! The final product looks really good.

[alanamoana]

that cheesecake looks severely overbaked. is it possible that you mismeasured an ingredient somewhere too? usually when a cheesecake is overbaked, it just souffles, but this looks like it souffled and then collapsed (thus the hills, dales and cracks).

you might want to calibrate your oven temp. if you do it at low enough of a temp, you don't need a water bath.

[AmritaBala]

Oh dear...I'm so sorry your cheesecake turned out that way! I heard adding a little flour into the batter prevents it from cracking...(

[pax]

This is why I keep tinned pie filling on hand, but I love the idea of the cheesecake spackle.

I also love that you cook for your friends. If someone baked a cheesecake for me, I'd be blinded to any "faults" by some serious gratitude and crust crumbs stuck to my glasses. : )

[hummingbirdkiss]

it did not taste over baked ...but that could have been it as well ..over mixed overbaked...

seem to both be the problem ...I just have not ever had this happen before!!! I wonder now if my two oven temps got confused as well ..I baked enchiladas in one oven and the cake in the other maybe the hot oven was the cake?

oh well too late to fret about that now! ...

dinner was great and people left content and smiling ..

the cake barely hit the table and it was gone folks loved it cracks and all ..they thought it was hysterical

success

thanks for the help and comments

[Darcie B]

Reading your original post, you said you put a pan of water in the oven under the cheesecake. A water bath means putting the pan in the water - if you just put a pan of water in the oven with the cheesecake you aren't using a water bath.

I've had no problems with cracking since I started using a water bath and pulling the cheesecake out when the center still jiggled just a tiny bit.

At what oven temp and how long did you bake it?

[MGLloyd]

I think it is overbaked as well. Without the water bath to moderate the temp, I think there was some uneven and over baking going on. However, the end result with the topping looked very good. Nice save!

[hummingbirdkiss]

thanks you guys I bet I not only over baked it but put it in the wrong oven ...that is why my enchiladas took so long ..duh!

it will be a while before I make another cheesecake but all the things note are taken so the next time I will be more careful

that was about the ugliest thing I have ever made ..even fixed it looked awful on the plate and then to slice it and find the mouse holes..argh ..but not a crumb left

[QbanCrackr]

i'm a newbie when it comes to cheesecake...i've made it maybe 4 times and i've had a 50% success rate on them. one was a regular size creamy water bath (325 or so) and another was a regular size new york style (400-425 i think). then i tried making another new york and made some mini ones off the recipe for the water bath ones (all recipes came from the joy of cooking)

today i did the mini ones, i think it was 2# of cream cheese, 4 eggs, lemon zest, vanilla, sugar..i think that was all (i don't have the book on me). in any case, they collapsed right after they came out. i had one of my failures collapse real bad and make a big valley in it, and i read that was due to overbeating and incorporating air (it rose alot in the oven). in todays case i felt if anything i may have underbeated them (beating just until everything came together).

is there a cooling technique i'm not getting here? i just want to be able to make a consistent cheesecake hehe.

well in anycase if anyone has a sure fire recipe they might be willing to share or any tips or techniques that can help me out with making a real nice cheesecake id appreciate it (i dont care if its NY or any other style i love them all!)

thanks!

d

[Pam Brunning]

Not normally into cheesecakes as the other half doesnt like the texture of them very much but this one is a cheesecake for people that dont like cheesecake! It is very light and refreshing.

Edited April 3, 2010 by Pam Brunning (log)