# How to Stop Cheesecake from Falling?



## hhinman (May 16, 2012)

Many years ago, I used to bake cheesecakes following a simple recipe in the Sheraton World Cookbook. I obtained a copy of the book recently and tried again. I have made 5 cheesecakes that were 4-5 inches tall and beautiful in the oven. All 5 have fallen however to about an inch think. They fall very quickly after the oven is turned off.

I have no idea what is causing this. I've tried variations and read various internet forums. I let the ingredients get to room temperature, try to cut down on beating to reduce aeration, and tried water baths and water pans on a lower rack and without any water. Cooked at both 325 and 350 degrees. I've let it cook in the oven and out and with a small crack open in the oven door In all case, gorgeous cheesecakes in the oven but all fell.

The only variances from when I used to successfully make these years ago is that I have a gas oven today and had electric before (I have used a temperature probe to validate the temperature by the way), and I am using a 10 inch round pan as opposed to a 9 inch. All 5 cakes rose about the pan as well.

The receipt calls for the following ingredients:

12 oz Cream Cheese

3/4 cup sugar

5 eggs

1 cup half and half

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 teaspoons grated lemon grind

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Butter the pan and cover with crushed graham crackers

2. beat cream cheese and sugar

3. add 5 eggs one at a time and beat well after each one.

4. add lemon rind, lemon juice and vanilla extract

5. Add cream and half and half

6. pour into pan

7. place pan in oven in larger pan filled with 1/2 inch of water.

8. Bake 1 1/2 hours at 325 degrees.

Any suggestions/advice would be great appreciated.


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## nicko (Oct 5, 2001)

In looking at your recipe I think the amounts have to be off. Typically I use 32 ounces of cream cheese to 4 eggs. Your recipe has way too much liquid and not enough stabilizer to keep the cheese cake up.


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

I agree Nicko,

@ HH:

The recipe you posted from the Sheraton World Cookbook, is that the *exact *recipe ? Your recipe is MISSING a good portion of the cream cheese, I see you need a little more sugar, some flour.

As far as the 2 cups of cream go ? Maybe make a Bavarian with it ?

Have your tried the Dunn's cheesecake recipe ? It's on the net, very close to the one I make.

I don't think that recipe should have all the liquid. Puzzling ?

Petals.


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## hhinman (May 16, 2012)

Yes, that is the exact recipe (I have the book in front of me. I used it 20 years ago multiple times with no issue. Made fantastic cheese cake. Used by the Sheraton in New York. This receipt rises up to about 4-5 inches tall, golden brown on the top, no cracks. But now drops like a rock every time. I tried putting a Tablespoon of cornstarch in the last time and cook it at 350 instead of 325 until very brown and it it still dropped like a rock.


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## hhinman (May 16, 2012)

Thanks, I tried increasing to 32 oz of Cream Cheese. Beautiful cake by fell about half way. Taller than previous cakes, but because of extra volume I suspect. Also too strong of a cheesy taste says the 3 people who tried it.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Too little cheesecake won't cause the custard to rise too much. The reverse, more likely. Since there's no leavening in the cake and it's rising for SOME reason, it seems pretty clear you're over-beating. I'm not sure how you think cornstarch or flour will help control the rise. I'm similarly mystified as to why people think more cream cheese will make a difference in that respect. 

Try beating at your beater's lowest speed and only until the mixture is fully combined. Then pass the raw, mixed batter through a sieve a couple of times before filling the pan and baking. That will go some way towards knocking down whatever bubbles are in it and should hold the rise down. 

Cheesecake is essentially a custard pie with more or less cream cheese. The less cheese the more custard like; the more cheese, the denser and richer. That's about it. The tricks to keeping the cake from getting too active during the bake are keeping the bubbles out of the batter (so they don't expand when they heat), and baking at a reasonably low temperature. There's nothing wrong with 325F, if you don't mind a bit of browning on the top. 

Don't worry about the rise and fall, as long as you don't get too much cracking during the subsequent cool-down; and don't forget to cool in the oven with the door open and the rack out (vestibule cooling), then cool on the counter, before fully ripening the cheesecake in the fridge.

Out of curiosity, what sort of crust are you doing?

BDL


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## hhinman (May 16, 2012)

Thanks for the advice - I'll give it a try. The recipe simply has one coat the bottom and sides of the pan with softened butter and then roll graham cracker crumbs. Not much of a crust actually.


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## hhinman (May 16, 2012)

One question - are you stating there should be little or no rise at all? I'm trying to achieve a tall cheesecake (3-4 inches) and the amount of filling that pours in is only about 1 1.2 inches tall in the pan.


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

hhinman said:


> Thanks for the advice - I'll give it a try. The recipe simply has one coat the bottom and sides of the pan with softened butter and then roll graham cracker crumbs. Not much of a crust actually.


Hhinman,

I make my crust with 1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs, 1/3 cup of powdered sugar, 1/3 melted butter.

Mix the graham with sugar till its well combined then I add the melted butter, not like a paste but rather like a crumble.

Gently line the pan with the crumb till it covers the bottom and up the side a little.

I have never buttered a pan. There is enough fat in the ingredients. Once it ripens in the fridge , I pass a sharp knife along the edge, you probably do this as well.

Because of this thread ,last night I made a cheesecake and this is how it turned out. If you are looking for height (3 1/4 inches - ) , this is it. Same size pan you use.* I will make your recipe * and re-post.

Petals.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

hhinman said:


> One question - are you stating there should be little or no rise at all? I'm trying to achieve a tall cheesecake (3-4 inches) and the amount of filling that pours in is only about 1 1.2 inches tall in the pan.


That's up to you. However, it's the nature of most cream-cheese cheesecakes to be very dense and not hold much rise.

I didn't really understand what you were going for, and apologize for that. A 4" cheesecake is quite an achievement. If all you want is more height, use more batter. By controlling the amount of oven rise, you should be able to get a fair amount of cheesecake batter in the pan without having it overflow during baking.

If you're looking for a high, light and still NY style baked cheesecake it makes sense to start "cheating" by using more batter, adding things lighter cheeses (hoop cheese for instance), and over-beating. I don't know if you'd go so far to call a cake like that is a horse of a different color than the typical baked cheesecake, but it approaches.

Another way of proceeding would be to add some -- and I mean more than a tablespoon or two -- of flour in an attempt to get the glutens to give the batter enough structure to hold on to some air. It's not something I do, so can't give you much advice.

I have a recipe posted on CT for a "crostata ricotta" which may be more along the lines of what you're looking for in terms of height and lightness than the recipe you're using now. Still decadent though, no worries on that score.

BDL


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

> 3. add 5 eggs one at a time and beat well after each one


I would say change the " beat well " to " incorporate gently by hand ". In my experience, I can beat the hell out the mixture until I start to add eggs. Once I start to do that; the easier I am, the less the fall.


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## hhinman (May 16, 2012)

Thanks. Looks gorgeous. I'm very interested how you do with the Sheraton Recipe.


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## prettycake (Dec 23, 2011)

The recipe that really works for me is the Juniors Cheesecake (NYC) one. It never falls and it is dense. I do not like airy cheesecake UNLESS I want the Japanese Cheesecake w/c is like spongecake but Cheesecake.. This is the Juniors Cheesecake I made last time.. To me water bath *WITH* water helps in preventing from falling and never cracks too....and I also use thin layer and dense of white cake as crust..


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## hhinman (May 16, 2012)

Did you try the Sheraton recipe yet?


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## prettycake (Dec 23, 2011)

hhinman said:


> Did you try the Sheraton recipe yet?


No, Juniors Cheesecake is the only one I have been making... But I will try this. thank you


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## hhinman (May 16, 2012)

Made a different recipe this evening from the Cheesecake Bible I ordered off Amazon. New York Cheesecake recipe. Got the height I was looking for. This recipe uses 40 ounces of Cream cheese and 5 eggs plus 2 more yolks. Only 1/4 cup of cream. Came out very well and excellent taste.


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

Looks terrifc Hhinman,

The height is good and the texture looks like its spot on. Thanks for posting the picture.

Petals.


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## hhinman (May 16, 2012)

Yes, it's good. Problem is it uses 40 oz. of Cream Cheese vs. the 12 oz. in the Sheraton Recipe


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

I noticed that. I will be trying your recipe hopefully tonight. For the reason you said it is  4-5 high , I will line the cake pan.

The cheesecake you just made has about  the same amount  (eggs and cheese ) I use.

I am always looking for the perfect cheesecake recipe, I am glad you started this thread, it gives us the chance to troubleshoot this recipe.

Petals.


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## hhinman (May 16, 2012)

OK - thanks. Good luck with the Sheraton Recipe. I'm really interested to see if you can get it to work - makes a much lighter fluffier cheesecake when it works.


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

Experiment : Sheraton

I followed your recipe to a "T". The other thing I did not do was over beat the mixture. So based on that, here are the results.

 This is how it looked after it cooked (per recipe) It had some height, so I let it cool down in the oven.

And then it happened........LOL.

The consistancy was like wet custard.

Conclusion : The Sheraton recipe does not work. I tried it , glad I did. So it is not your oven. I would suggest that you stay with the winning cake you made and as far as this one goes, you may want to put this recipe in the " X Files". /img/vbsmilies/smilies/thumb.gif

Petals.


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## prettycake (Dec 23, 2011)

Just by looking at that recipe (Sheraton), the proportions are way off. 5 eggs and 1 cup cream w/ 12 oz. of cream cheese ? I don't think so. And no need to be a NASA engineer to figure that one out /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif Maybe that is a typo.


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## hhinman (May 16, 2012)

Well thanks very much for trying this. It's exactly the result I achieved on multiple attempts. I do remember having success with this recipe in the 1980's. Cant figure out why. But I will follow your advice and stick with the recipe that worked well. It was in a book that has over 200 cheesecake recipes so I'll probably experiment with a couple of others.


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

Prettycake said:


> Just by looking at that recipe (Sheraton), the proportions are way off. 5 eggs and 1 cup cream w/ 12 oz. of cream cheese ? I don't think so. And no need to be a NASA engineer to figure that one out /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif Maybe that is a typo.


Yes, Prettycake, if your read the entire post you would have seen that was figured out way back up to *post # 3* of this thread ._* She asked you if you would try it, and you said you would*_. Therein lies the difference. W*e already concluded that it was the correct recipe*, so that is what we based this whole experiment on.

You said maybe it was a typo ? You better re-read the thread again. *Hhinman came here to seek help, not to get sarcasm.*

Professionalism when addressing people counts alot with me and this site, you may consider showing it. After all , it was Hhinman's first post.


hhinman said:


> Well thanks very much for trying this. It's exactly the result I achieved on multiple attempts. I do remember having success with this recipe in the 1980's. Cant figure out why. But I will follow your advice and stick with the recipe that worked well. It was in a book that has over 200 cheesecake recipes so I'll probably experiment with a couple of others.


Your very welcome. The reason why I tried it was because you had some success with it in the past. This site is all about learning and I am glad to have helped in anyway.

I look forward to hearing from you again.

Petals.


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## prettycake (Dec 23, 2011)

petalsandcoco said:


> Yes, Prettycake, if your read the entire post you would have seen that was figured out way back up to *post # 3* of this thread ._* She asked you if you would try it, and you said you would*_. Therein lies the difference. W*e already concluded that it was the correct recipe*, so that is what we based this whole experiment on.
> 
> You said maybe it was a typo ? You better re-read the thread again. *Hhinman came here to seek help, not to get sarcasm.*
> 
> ...


Oh yes, I READ the WHOLE thing.. earlier.... BTW my comment was NOT addressed to you.. Have a great day.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

I guess the problem with the Sheraton recipe as related here is that the cream holds too much air, expands still farther when baked, but lacks the structure to hold the air when cool. It's on the way to being a baked cream, as much as a baked custard. I can think of techniques which would control that -- for instance, tempering the eggs into heated cream, heating that still farther to create a custard, then folding it and lightly whipped cream cheese together. While that would avoid most of the pitfalls petals suffered, it still wouldn't get the sort of "NY Style" baked cheesecake which seems as though its the goal here.

BDL


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## sonny (Feb 10, 2013)

Hi All, I'm Sonny from Sonny's Creamy Cheesecake which is in Italy..

Well I'm almost 56 years old, I decided to give a few of pro-tricks with cheesecakes that normal home making give problems.

Ok 1st of all forget the water bath's, 2nd you put in 5 full eggs + 1 yolk that is enough for Two 9"x 3" Cheesecakes, don't pour batter to top leave 1/2 down the side, 3rd don't worry about putting to much sugar important is that you dont put less in, the sugar not only cost cheap but it gives you longer conservation time, 4th you must put in 4 Full Table Spoons of Flour "00" or Full Fat Powdered Milk This is what will not let "*Crack*" your cake forget the water baths, 5th and less the OVEN ok bring your oven to MAX then put your cheesecake at the center of oven (elettric oven) for no more 8-9 min then bring the oven down to 90°Celsius make the transformation in Farenheit, leave there for 1 hour This way the cake will cook perfectly and not rise, you'll get the best Creamy Cheesecake around.... Sorry my family secrets are in the Crumb can't reveale anything about the crumb mixture, my is totally natural with 14 ingredients.

Happy Cheesecaking To All

Sonnyp.s. I suggest to STOP using spring form pans, just spend 1 time and purchase acouple of " Loose Bottom Cheesecake Pans" you can find them on internet I suggest the Big Daddieo's pans this is the site but hastle around like at "cookware" site the prices are good and also the pans, You'll get professional cheesecake the springform pans are just a pain in the neck. http://www.fatdaddios.com/catalog/removable-bottom-1 /img/vbsmilies/smilies/chef.gif Eating a slice a day will put you Smiling all day long !


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## sonny (Feb 10, 2013)

Hi, sorry forgot one thin, You can't use half&half also whipping cream all that stuff for the batter the base is the cream cheese put more cream cheese and use sour cream, or just 1 of the others, /img/vbsmilies/smilies/chef.gif Sonny


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## toothlessbeaver (Mar 13, 2013)

Thank you Sonny for posting that. The recipe I have used for yrs calls for both heavy cream and sour cream. I as well have the issue of a beautiful cake while in the oven and once it is set up in the refer, it falls like a rock.

Reading this post , brings some thing to mind, Chef Thomas Hazelbaker taught me long ago...

A cook does what they do because they have to for a wage, a Chef on the other hand shares their passion with all who are willing to learn.

Thank all of ya'll for sharing your passions with the rest of us. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/thumb.gif


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## gungasim (Mar 8, 2013)

Prettycake said:


> The recipe that really works for me is the Juniors Cheesecake (NYC) one. It never falls and it is dense. I do not like airy cheesecake UNLESS I want the Japanese Cheesecake w/c is like spongecake but Cheesecake.. This is the Juniors Cheesecake I made last time.. To me water bath *WITH* water helps in preventing from falling and never cracks too....and I also use thin layer and dense of white cake as crust..


looks great,is it better to make it that day or the day before you need it


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## daddy ray (Aug 3, 2013)

Hey Sonny, 

   Let me get this straight,  You are saying to bake the cake at 350 degrees for the first 8-9 minutes and then lower the temp to approximately 190 - 200 degrees for about 60 minutes?  I really like the removable bottom pans. They work great.  

     Thanks Daddy Ray


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## onlycheesecakes (Oct 27, 2013)

I use 54 oz cream cheese to 4 eggs.  Works like a charm.  Gradient temps when cooking are a must as well.  for a 10" cake (in removable bottom pan) start oven at 500 degrees, lower to 400 before you place the cake in and cook for 15 mins.  Lower to 300 for 30 mins and then reduce to 250 for 1 hr 45 mins.  Perfect cake every time.  :0)


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## chef lavene (Mar 11, 2016)

Yesterday was the first time I had the time of my life trying to make some cheesecake tarts. I made some in November and they were excellent! For some reason yesterday the gods weren't working with me. After two failed attempts, I came to this site to find out what on Earth could possibly be going wrong. After reading some of the reviews ever posted I decided to go ahead and do the hot water bath as well as reduce the temperature of my oven and increased the cook time. In the end I ended up doing a bath, reduced the oven to 325 degrees and cooking the cheesecakes for approximately 30 to 35 minutes. They came out absolutely excellent! Thanks for all the tips. Note, I have never used the bath before but again I've never had this issue but thank you for these tips because it helped.


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## vini (Apr 22, 2016)

Hi can anyone please tell me how to bake perfect mini cheesecakes in foil cake cups without them cracking or sinking. I have baked them by placing a pan filled with water at the bottom but some of them still sink or crack upon cooling in the oven with the oven door kept a little open. I bake them in a muffin pan lined with foil cups. I beat te cream cheese and the sugar till fluffy and when I add the eggs my kitchen aid is on the lowest speed. I must admit I have not got the eggs to room temperature nor have I added the eggs one at a time. 
My recipie needs 
2 8oz cream cheese 
1 cup sugar
2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 
12 vanilla wafers


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Your primary problem is "beating until fluffy". You're incorporating air into the batter which makes it rise too much and crack apart during cooling. 

Cheesecake is a form of custard. Meaning it is mesh of cooked denatured egg protein holding it together. With all that air expanding and lifting the batter, then cooling, it's too much movement for the egg protein to hold together. 

Mixing cheesecake is about getting an even mixture with the least air in it. These are conflicting goals. What I've found successful is to mix until evenly incorporated, then stop. Now I tap the mixing bowl of batter on the counter top vigorously enough to bring air bubbles to the surface. Keep doing that until you don't see new bubbles coming up. Then pour into your chosen forms. 

On an unrelated note, that seems like too much sugar. I use that much sugar for twice as much batter. Where these are small bites, i can see where a little extra sweetness might be appropriate, but I'd try a few batches with somewhat less sugar and see if you think the taste improves.


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## iwantcheesecake (Nov 24, 2016)

I found this site by doing a Google search to help my cheesecake avoid the dreaded cracks and sinking. I desperately want to know how to bake a beautiful tall, yummy cheesecake like what is found at the Cheesecake Factory. I have cooked several cheesecakes over the years, & while they taste really good, they don't have the presentation to them. My "go to" recipe for Thanksgiving is a Pumpkin Cheesecake: 
Filling: 
3 pkgs. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 eggs
1 can pumpkin
1t Vanilla extract
1- 1/4 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4t ground cloves
Bake at 350 for 1 hr 20 minutes. Can someone look at the ratio of these ingredients and tell me if they see something totally off?? I realize that this post was old, but I enjoyed reading the thread. I'm going to make this recipe again tonight for Thanksgiving tomorrow, but I'm going to try the reduced heat & interval cooking times to see if that does the trick.

Thank you in advance.


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## phil01628 (Oct 24, 2016)

I agree on proportions comments. I use 600g cream cheese to 3 while eggs and 1 yolk plus 250g double (heavy cream) which I whip before folding in. 
Ps sorry for metric measurements!


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## laurenlulu (Sep 9, 2012)

Echo Thatch


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## peachcreek (Sep 21, 2001)

I found that mixing my ingredients in a bowl with a wooden spoon (ala Harold McGee's suggestion) really helped to keep too much air from incorporating into the batter. Also just making sure all the ingredients were room temp. What I've noticed when I've had one come out uncracked was that they didn't rise that much when they were baking. They developed just a slight rise in the center. Then cooling slowly so the custard can cool and shrink evenly.

Good luck!

Peachcreek

 P.S. So I guess the answer to How To Stop A Cheesecake From Falling? Is? You can't. You can only keep them from rising too much and failing.


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