The Best New York Cheesecake Recipe

This New York Cheesecake recipe took me years to perfect. It’s not hard, and you get to benefit from my decade of trying every single cheesecake recipe known to humankind.  I found the perfect one nearly 20 years ago and I can make this without a recipe now- often requested and always loved!

My husband bought me a Kitchen Aid mixer for my 30th birthday.  (It is, by the way, not a good idea to buy a girl something that plugs in for her birthday but THIS was a home run and I had been asking for one for years.) He and his dad love cheesecake so I used that mixer for several years trying every cheesecake recipe I came across.  None was perfection and most were complicated, until this one. I’ve been making this cake for 15 years now and it’s a staple for Father’s Day. 

We were in NYC last month and tried NY cheesecake at a place that touts that it’s the very best.  Well, my family agreed THIS recipe is much better. And it’s easy- win/ win.

This recipe is altered just a teeny-tiny bit from The Second Round Tea Time at The Masters Cookbook.—-> This should be on your shelf if it’s not.  I had to duct tape mine back together recently and it’s got so many stains I can barely read some of the recipes.

Heavenly Cheesecake

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Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• Crust:
• 1 box of vanilla wafers crushed
• ½ cup butter melted
• I beat the vanilla wafers with a rolling pin after putting them in a large ziploc bag. Then dump them in a cheesecake pan.
• Pour the melted butter over the crumbs and press them around with your hands.
• Be sure to press some of the crust mixture up the sides of the pan.
• Refrigerate while preparing the filling.
• Filling:
• 4 8 oz packages of cream cheese softened
• 1 pint sour cream don’t you dare get low fat
• 4 eggs
• ⅛ tsp salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon flour

Method

 

1. Beat the cream cheese and sour cream until smooth and creamy. ( I let the cream cheese sit out on the counter for a couple hours beforehand to soften up) In a separate bow, combine sugar and eggs. Blend well with a fork or whisk. Pour egg mixture into the bowl with the cream cheese mixture (I do this a little at a time and blend in between. Add salt, lemon juice, vanilla, and flour. Mix well. (Don’t beat it forever, just until well blended, stopping to scrape the sides a few times so there are no lumps. Pour mixture into the crust. Bake at 350 for 55-65minutes. (55 minutes makes a very cream cake, 60 or more is drier and that’s the texture we like…) I can tell it’s done when the top is slightly brown and begins to crack. The cake puffs up quite a bit but will fall once it cools, so be careful getting it out of the oven. Cool in the pan at room temperature for 2-3 hours then refrigerate overnight. Run a knife along the inside of the springform pan before removing the sides of the pan to serve.

Notes

This freezes great as well. Enjoy!

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