New York Style Cheesecake on Shortbread Crust

New York Style Cheesecake on Shortbread Crust

  • Prep Time: 1 hrs
  • Total Time: 3 hrs 30 mins
  • Serves: 16,Yield: 1ten inch cake

    • About This Recipe

    “This is the consummate cheesecake. You won’t want any other’s after you’ve had this one. I like to take my ingredients out on Friday morning before work and bake it Friday night when it’s cool and quiet. That way it’s ready to serve early Saturday.”

    Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cupsall-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cupwhite sugar
  • 1egg, beaten
  • 1/2 cupbutter, softened
  • 2 1/2 lbscream cheese, softened
  • 1 3/4 cupswhite sugar
  • 1pinchsalt
  • 3tablespoonsall-purpose flour
  • 5largeeggs
  • 2egg yolks( from large eggs)
  • 2teaspoonsvanilla extract( adjust to taste)
  • 1/4 cupheavy whipping cream

    • Directions

  • PREP——.
  • As with all baking, have all your ingredients at a cool room temperature (65°F).
  • Get a couple quarts of water boiling on the stove.
  • Arrange racks in your oven so there’s one on the lowest and one in the middle. If you do not have a center position then go mid-lower.
  • Have a clean 10x14x2-inch (give or take) roasting pan ready.
  • Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
  • Grease 10 inch springform pan.
  • CRUST——-.
  • Gently combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 egg and 1/2 cup butter in a medium bowl.
  • Spread to the edges of the pan.
  • Prick all over with a fork, then bake 10-15 minutes at 400°F until lightly browned. Allow to cool on a rack.
  • FILLING——.
  • Increase oven temperature to 475°F.
  • Turn oven light off (trust me on this one), place roasting pan on bottom rack and fill with boiling water.
  • In a large bowl (I use my stand mixer), very gently beat cream cheese until smooth. I use the slowest setting for 5 minutes.
  • Scrape down sides of bowl.
  • Gradually add the salt, 1 3/4 cups sugar and 3 tablespoons flour — continue to beat SLOWLY until well combined, scrape down sides of bowl.
  • In a small bowl gently beat the vanilla, 5 eggs and the 2 yolks, gradually add eggs to the cream cheese mixture.
  • Continue to stir until combined and smooth, stop mixer occasionally and scrape down sides.
  • VERY IMPORTANT!Stop mixer, remove bowl and give it a good scraping (some of the cream cheese will stick to the sides and bottom of the bowl), replace bowl on mixer and stir until all lumps are gone.
  • Add cream and mix only enough to blend.
  • Gently pour filling over crust, run a thin knife around the filling in a S pattern to remove any trapped air bubbles. Let it sit on the counter for 5 minutes then do it again.
  • Bake for 10 minutes at 475°F.
  • Reduce temperature to 200°F and continue to bake for one hour.
  • Turn oven off, but leave cake in for another hour.
  • DON’T TOUCH THAT OVEN DOOR!You’ve created a nice, humid environment that will help prevent cracks and produce a perfect, professional, NY style cheese cake assuming you didn’t mess with it by changing the atmospheric conditions.
  • It may appear a little jiggly in the center and will have a golden appearance around the edges.
  • Allow to cool on a rack for several hours, release the latch slightly on the side of the pan after 20 minutes, rotate sides to be sure the cake is free (but don’t take it off yet), you can remove the sides after an hour (or so) if you want to admire your work, but replace it quickly or the cake may fall.
  • After it’s cool, wrap completely with plastic wrap, there should be a layer stuck to the top of the cake.
  • Chill overnight in the refrigerator (Yes, this is required).
  • The cake will stay at peak flavor for several days so long as you keep it wrapped and cold.
  • What can go wrong?.
  • If the cake cracks you either had your ingredients too cold, mixed the filling too vigorously, opened the oven door while the cake was cooking or didn’t have a pan of water in the oven.
  • If it does crack, don’t despair — just cover with a dark fruit or a layer of cookie crumbs.
  • Toppings——.
  • Nothing (my favorite).
  • OR, boil a bag of frozen berries with a 1/4 cup of sugar until the liquid coats the back of a spoon, thicken with a table spoon of cornstarch mixed into a 1/4 cup of cold water — Pour in slowly while maintaining the boil and stirring constantly.
  • Adjust thickness by adding liquid or more cornstarch.
  • Flavor with liqueur, fruit juice or extract.
  • Blueberries or raspberries with Chambord is awesome, cherries work well with Frangelico or Amaretto.If you do use an alcoholic beverage, be sure to boil off alcohol. Cool fruit sauce in a mason jar and refrigerate. Keeps longer than the cheese cake!
  • I’ve served it with caramel sauce and, buttered/sliced/baked apples .
  • A light milk chocolate sauce, a sprinkle of chopped pecans and dollop of whipped cream will produce a nice turtle cake.

    • Reviews

  • “Heaven-on-a-fork is the best way to describe this recipe!This cheesecake was very dense and creamy.I didn’t make the shortbread crust for the bottom of the cheesecake, rather, I made a traditional graham cracker crust.I have never made a cheesecake that hasn’t cracked, and was so excited to make a perfect cheesecake for the very first time.I could not find a pan to put my 10-inch springform pan into so, I used two pans on a rack below my springform pan and poured boiling water into both of them to create a steamy/humid environment for the cheesecake (worked great).The cake will appear jiggly as Steve mentioned, but upon cooling you’ve got the perfect cheesecake.Thanks so much for posting this wonderful recipe!!!!!!”

  • “One word-Heaven-this was excellent.The only thing I will do next time is run a knife around the pan before I loosen the springform ring. I will definitely be making this again.”

  • “WOW! I received showers of praise from everyone who tried this. It was AWESOME! The cake’s presentation, texture, and taste was extrordinary. And Steve is right, serving this cake plain is the best!”

  • “I agree with the other reviews on here, this is a wonderful recipe with amazing instructions.The flavor is great, the crust is wonderful.The only downside is that the center has turned out a little less-cooked than I would like.I thought that perhaps it had something to do with my 8000ftelevation, but it appears others have had the same issue.I have correct temperatures and everything.I’m making it tonight, and I’m going to increase oven temp by about 15-25 degrees, and cooking time by about 20% too.Keep your fingers crossed! :)”

  • “This is fabulous! I gave myself the whole day to do this so I wasn’t rushed and tempted to take shortcuts. I followed the recipe and instructions exactly and it turned out perfect.”

  • “HEAVEN IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT!!I have made this cheesecake three times already and every time we eat it it just seems to get better and better.The first time I did exactly as the recipe said, I didn’t change a thing. Fabulous!!The second time I tried a very thin coating of chocolate on top (I’m a choco-holic had to try it). Still Fabulous!! The third time, again,no topping (at my husbands request).My guests went crazy when they tried it. Absolutely the best cheesecake you will ever make.I’d just like to mention to “dale” I had it burn on me once too, (I have an electric oven- temp.in Celsius) but that’s because I didn’t convert the temperature to Celsius right and my oven got way too hot. I just scraped off the top and covered with chocolate. Just make sure you double check the temperature, or just turn it down even more.Thanks for a great cheesecake SteveG!!!”

  • “This is the mother of all cheesecakes.After tasting this, you will never be able to go back.”

  • “Hey Dale!Sorry to hear about your problem.I make this cake a lot and have never had it burn.I think there may be some temperture issues with your oven.You may want to calibrate”

  • “I served this New Year’s Day to 13 people…and they raved about this!I ate my “test” sliver when I took it directly out of the fridge after the overnight refrigeration and I was a little worried about a dominant egg taste.Then I had a room temp piece with the other guests and almost fell off my chair.Fantastic! Thank you for sharing!”

  • “WOW! I was in a mood for a project so I went in search of a really good cheesecake recipe. FOUND IT! This is fantastic! I followed the recipe to the letter, did not change or skip a single step. I took it out of the fridge thismorning and took the sides off and had to try a sliver. I could keel over and die right now and be perfectly happy! By the way, it’s 6:45 am haha. Couldn’t help myself!
    *UPDATE* I made this again last night and all I can say is Oh. My. Goodness!! There’s no way there’s a better cheesecake than this one. There may be a few just as good, but none better!”

  • “Let me begin by saying I was skeptical about trying a cheesecake recipe due to the fact that I prefer cheesy over creamy and I’ve always been rather intimidated by the thought of attempting a cheesecake. That being said…this is probably the most comprehensive instructions to achieving PERFECT results. I followed the instructions to the letter and found that the cheesy flavor with the creaminess of the consistency made me realize that you CAN have the best of both worlds. Don’t kid yourself…this is not a quick-result experience, so if you’re looking for a fast-fix for dessert for tonights dinner? this isn’t it. It’s time-consuming but OMG is it fantastic. My first cheesecake…and my second…AND my third, all in the same week – all huge successes!! I posted a pic of my first one, which was surrounded by strawberries. I’ve recieved unbelieveable compliments on it (I do admit I upped the vanilla amount, due to the fact that I use a vanilla paste, as opposed to a vanilla extract – i LOVE vanilla bean).
    Anyone with any hesitations about tackling this….need look no further for a better recipe. This is the gold standard.”

  • “Thank you Steve_G!!This was a big hit for my DH’s boss’ bday!!!I will say patience is the key to this recipe; I blended slooooowly, didn’t open the oven door, or turn on the light. (I did however use my flashlight to take a peek.)My only suggestion is to use a knife to loosen the edges of the cooked cake before opening latch.If you don’t the cake may stick and will crack.I know this because it happened to me. I followed directions as written with no additions and it came out smooth and perfect.I will be making this again so I finally get a piece!!”

  • “Steve_G, I made this fabulous cheesecake the texture is silk the taste is velvet the experience divine. After hundreds of cheesecakes through the years this cheesecake is exquisite and the crust makes the taste one of my favourites! The only thing I changed is the temperature in my convection oven as it runs very hot 350 degree’s for 10 minutes 250 degree’s for 2 hrs. and then let cool in the turned off oven. Thanks for sharing a great recipe I will make this again and again!”

  • “Brilliant! I’d love to know the origins of this recipe, how it came about. I looked at EVERY New York Style Cheesecake recipe on this site (and honestly, a few others, but I ALWAYS end up here!) I kept coming back to this one. I liked the idea of a shortbread crust, and was really looking for an alternative method to baking in a water bath. (I have always had trouble with leaky springform pans and foil!) This one fit the bill on both counts. To be honest, I was a bit nervous about the whole “don’t open the oven door, trust the directions and timing” deal, but I cannot imagine any recipe yielding a better result than I got with this. I even used a 9″ pan because it’s all I have, no runny middle, no undercooked anything, just delicious, thick, rich, creamy CHEESECAKE NIRVANA!!!BRILLIANT!09/23/08 I wanted to update my review to include my recent experience. I wanted to make this for my cheesecake loving friend for her birthday, but her husband is diabetic. I decided to make the recipe exactly as written, but used splenda in place of all sugar, and it was FANTASTIC! They are still raving about it! Thanks also to Steve for his help, advice, and above all, for this recipe!”

  • “I have made this cheesecake three times now and just can’t get it to bake completely.I’ve calibrated my oven and followed the recipe exactly.The flavor of the cake is outrageously delicious and that’s why I keep making it.The texture is just too soft in the center.Any suggestions??”

  • “This is an absolutely wonderful recipe, everyone loves it. It’s very moist and soft. This is my first time making cheese cake and there are no cracks. It’s not hard to make either. Thank you for the excellent recipe!!!”

  • “Hey Steve-This really is an amazing cheesecake.I Loved the crust and the texture is perfection.After one slice I had av e r y hard time ignoring the cheesecake calling to me.My Girls devoured it in no time flat!The only concern I had was that the cheesecake was a little jiggly, however it set beautifully.Thank’s for posting this awsome recipe!Di”

  • “Very good step by step directions that lead to an excellent cheesecake. I even had people who don’t like cheesecake loving it.Highly recommended!”

  • “This cheesecake did not cook correctly at all. I followed the directions to the letter, but the next day when I took my cheesecake out of the refrigerator, the center of the cake had not cooked at all. I put it back in the oven at 325F for an additional hour and it was still an odd consistency–it was cooked, but unusually moist for a cheesecake, and the flavor was a bit off. It definitely was not the perfect cheesecake other reviewers have been raving about.”

  • “Getting ready to attempt this recipe, going to increase cooking time due to previous comments. Also I am going to make with a traditional graham cracker crust. I will let you know how it turns out!”

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