# new york cheesecake base



## bughut (Aug 18, 2007)

I've made 2 according to instructions and not been best pleased with either base. I'd like to do a biscuit crumb base this time. Do you think it will work for a baked cheesecake


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

It should. What have you been doing in the past?

I normally use Vanilla Wafers though I have no idea if they're available in your neck of the woods. I've heard good things about animal crackers for this purpose as well.

My tips: break them up well, mix in the melted butter well and pack tightly before baking.


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

OK _*phatch*_, help me out here. You just said: _*"pack tightly before baking."*_. My cheesecakes have had crusts that chain-saws won't go through. I am, or so I believe, following the directions. What gives?!?


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## margcata (Sep 18, 2011)

Happy New Year,

I had posted a great Brownie Cheesecake recipe awhile back ( November I believe ).

Graham Cracker Crusts are the best for Cheesecakes, I have found.

Have you put butter into your crumb crust base mixture ?

Is your oven too high ?

The base should remain moist --- not dry ...


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

New York cheesecake here....has the pan buttered and coated with plain breadcrumbs or nothing at all. The cake makes its' own crust.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

I almost always used crushed graham crackers for the crust. That's the way I was taught in New York. Sometimesl, depending on final flavors, I'll use chocolate cookies instead.

To make the crust, the crushed "crackers" are mixed with melted butter, then pressed down into the spring mold so they form a good layer over the bottom, and partially up the sides.

From what I understand, the basic difference between New York and other cheesecakes is that New York style uses cream cheese, as opposed to, say, ricotta.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

In reverse order, _first Chefross:_


> New York cheesecake here....has the pan buttered and coated with plain breadcrumbs or nothing at all. The cake makes its' own crust.


Don't care for the idea offhand, and it's nothing at all like cheesecake in New York, or "New York cheesecake" anywhere I've been. It's yewper? Can you supply a published recipe?

Junior's, who makes one of the best cheesecakes in NY, actually uses a sponge cake bottom -- but that's very minority. Like most cheesecake makers, when I make a straight crumb crust, I prefer using cookie crumbs which are at least slightly sweet.

_Ice:_


> OK _*phatch*_, help me out here. You just said: _*"pack tightly before baking."*_. My cheesecakes have had crusts that chain-saws won't go through. I am, or so I believe, following the directions. What gives?!


There are a few possibilities. What's your crust recipe, and how -- exactly -- are you forming the crust, and baking the cheesecake.

_Finally the talented, lovely and redoubtable Ishbel:_


> I've made 2 according to instructions and not been best pleased with either base. I'd like to do a biscuit crumb base this time. Do you think it will work for a baked cheesecake


I'd really like to know about those instructions which let you down. What base is mandated?

Yes, a biscuit crumb base (which we'd call a cookie crumb crust) should work very well -- and you have a wide range of appropriate biscuits from which to choose, including shortbread, digestives, graham crackers (whatever the heck you call them in Caledonia), vanilla wafers, chocolate wafers, and arrowroot. The last four are probably the most popular choices here in the U. S. of A. I prefer to mix crushed nuts in my "cookie" crumb crusts.

BDL


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

IceMan said:


> OK _*phatch*_, help me out here. You just said: _*"pack tightly before baking."*_. My cheesecakes have had crusts that chain-saws won't go through. I am, or so I believe, following the directions. What gives?!?


The cookie crumb crusts tend to fall apart at my elevation and humidity. I find they hold together better if you pack them tightly and bake only about 12 minutes.

In a higher humidity area, that might lead to a tougher crust. They'll go soggy within a few days as they absorb moisture from the cheesecake itself.

I once tried the orange juice binder recommended by the CIA in their textbook, Techniques of Healthy Cooking. The crust worked well for the first day but dissolved into goo by day two. But in a restaurant, you can likely serve it all up before then. Techniques of Healthy Cooking is an interesting book attempting to meld the serving portions, fat and sodium intake limits considered proper for a healthy body but still serve up restaurant quality food. I don't know that they always succeed, but they do give a different slant and view into classic technique based cuisine.


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

*"Don't care for the idea offhand, and it's nothing at all like cheesecake in New York, or "New York cheesecake" anywhere I've been. It's yewper? Can you supply a published recipe? "*

No it's not Yooper...but it is what the boss wants...even if it has no resemblance to the real thing or not.

And I'm being paid to give him what he wants.

I've given up trying to educate, enlighten, enrich, and inform.

It only gives me headaches.

I know what the real thing is though and I make it regularly at home. Thank you very much. Boar


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

boar_d_laze said:


> _Finally the talented, lovely and redoubtable Ishbel:_
> 
> I'd really like to know about those instructions which let you down. What base is mandated?
> 
> ...


Hey, BDL, whilst I am flattered by your description - it's another Scot, the talented, lovely and redoubtable BUGHUT who is asking the question.......!

I haven't a clue what a 'NY cheesecake' might be - but I was taught to make cheesecakes by a North London Jewish lady, of German ancestry, who swore by the UK's version of trifle sponges!


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## margcata (Sep 18, 2011)

@ Iceman,

Do not fret ... and Have a wonderful New Year 2012 ...

Here is a simple basic NY Cheesecake which is quite distinct from the Italian or Sicilian type, which my Milanese Grandmom made.

Basic recipe:

1 cup Graham Cracker Crumbs

3 tblsps sugar

3 tblsps sweet butter

3 eggs

3 eight ounce packages of Philadelphia cream cheese or other outstanding brand of choice

1 tsp vanilla

Topping: seasonal blueberries, rasberries or pineapple or Chocolate Chips

1) combine Graham crackers, sugar and melted butter

2) press the ingredients ( in Number 1 ) into the bottom of a 9" pan

3) combine the creamcheese and sugar and mix at a medium speed with electric mixer until well blended

4) add eggs, one at a time and mix well with each addition of an egg

5) blend vanilla and pour slowly into the crust

6) bake 10 mins. at 450 degrees farenheit

7) then reduce heat of oven to 250 degrees farenheit  and bake 35 minutes

8) loosen cake from pan ( shake it a bit )

9) cool on open window

10) Top with fruits of choice and / or choc chips

11)  chill in frig until time in which you shall use ( take out 35 mins before )

As you can see the ingredients are different in the Village of Aonedis - Friuli : Northern Italian Cheesecake called Torta di Ricotta :  

1 1/2 cups Ricotta

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup almond Biscotti crumbled

2 large eggs

3/4 cups raisins

2 large yolks

1 tblsp all purpose flour

Baking Powder and Salt

Here is a simple chocolate crust for a cheesecake :

1 1/2 cups ground chocolate wafers or oreo type cookies without the cream filling

5 tblsps sweet butter

1) preheat oven to 325 degrees farenheit

2) butter the 9" diameter tart pan with a removable bottom

3) Mix chocolate cookie crumbs and butter in a medium bowl until crumbs are moist and clump in form

4) press mixture onto the sides and upsides of prepared tart pan

5) bake until set 10 mins. and let cool completely

6) then fill with your creamcheese mixture

***  yield is 10 to 12 slices


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

_Here is a simple basic NY Cheesecake ....._

Yup! That's pretty much the basic recipe I use, except I don't mix sugar with the crumbs. And I make mine in springmolds.


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