Cooking for Beginners recipes, structured

Baked Cheesecake

A low-and-slow water-bath bake, cooled in the switched-off oven and chilled overnight so it slices clean and cracks never appear.

Prep
30m
Cook
1h
Waiting
8h
Total
9h 30m
Serves
12
Effort
Moderate
Scale
12
Units

Method

Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.

900 g Beat the filling smooth on the lowest speed 8m Air whipped in now expands in the oven and collapses into a crater on cooling. Pour the filling over the cooled base and wrap the tin in foil 5m Two layers, right up the sides. Springform tins all leak eventually. Bake at 150°C / 300°F in the water bath for 60 minutes 1h Done when the outer 5 cm is set and the middle wobbles as a single mass. Turn the oven off and leave the door ajar for 1 hour 1h Cracks come from a fast temperature drop contracting the surface faster than the middle. Chill at least 6 hours, ideally overnight, before releasing the tin 7h Run a warm knife round the edge first so the shrinking cake does not tear itself.
200 g
200 g
4
2 tbsp
2 tsp
1 lemon
250 g Press the crumb base into the tin and bake 10 minutes at 170°C 12m
100 g
25 g
to come halfway up the tin
Read left to right: ingredients merge into steps, and the rightmost cell is the last thing you do. Steps account for 9h 25m of hands-on and cooking time.

  1. Beat the filling smooth on the lowest speed

    8m
    • full-fat cream cheese 900 g
    • caster sugar 200 g
    • soured cream 200 g
    • eggs 4
    • plain flour 2 tbsp
    • vanilla extract 2 tsp
    • lemon zest 1 lemon

    Air whipped in now expands in the oven and collapses into a crater on cooling.

  2. Press the crumb base into the tin and bake 10 minutes at 170°C

    12m
    • digestive biscuits 250 g
    • unsalted butter 100 g
    • caster sugar 25 g

  3. Pour the filling over the cooled base and wrap the tin in foil

    5m
    • from 1 Beat the filling smooth on the lowest speed
    • from 2 Press the crumb base into the tin and bake 10 minutes at 170°C

    Two layers, right up the sides. Springform tins all leak eventually.

  4. Bake at 150°C / 300°F in the water bath for 60 minutes

    1h
    • from 3 Pour the filling over the cooled base and wrap the tin in foil

    Done when the outer 5 cm is set and the middle wobbles as a single mass.

  5. Turn the oven off and leave the door ajar for 1 hour

    1h
    • from 4 Bake at 150°C / 300°F in the water bath for 60 minutes
    • boiling water to come halfway up the tin

    Cracks come from a fast temperature drop contracting the surface faster than the middle.

  6. Chill at least 6 hours, ideally overnight, before releasing the tin

    7h
    • from 5 Turn the oven off and leave the door ajar for 1 hour

    Run a warm knife round the edge first so the shrinking cake does not tear itself.

A custard pretending to be a cake

Cheesecake sets because egg proteins unfold and link into a mesh that traps the fat and water in the cheese. That mesh forms cleanly around 70 to 75°C and starts squeezing water out — curdling — not far above it. A water bath caps the outside of the tin at 100°C and evens the heat, so the edges are not overcooked by the time the centre arrives. The small amount of flour is insurance, interfering with protein bonds so the set stays tender.

Notes

  • Room-temperature cream cheese is not optional. Cold cheese never beats smooth and no amount of extra mixing fixes it.
  • Slight underbaking is the right error. It firms considerably in the fridge.
  • Wipe the knife between every slice with a hot cloth.

Try butter, 30 minutes, braise, or an ingredient you need to use up.