Chantal's New York Cheesecake Recipe!

In an earlier blog post, I offered to post my cheesecake recipe if anyone wanted it.  Well, I received a recipe request from Babymama at Ava Grace's Closet, so I'm pleased to share it!  I don't know who to give credit to for this recipe, except for Chantal!  I found this recipe on a cooking site a few years ago and have been making it ever since!  This is restaurant quality, or better!

Chantal's New York Cheesecake
Yield- One 9" Springform Pan
Preptime- 30 Minutes
Cooktime- 1 Hour
Ready in - 7 Hours and 30 Minutes  (or a bit less if you're in a big hurry!)

Before beginning, it is a good idea to let your cold ingredients acclimate to room temperature, most importantly, the cream cheese.  This helps to eliminate lumps.


4 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/4 cup flour


Graham Cracker Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter

Mix together well.

First, prepare a water bath to bake your cheesecake in by placing a cookie sheet or cake pan large enough for your springform pan to fit into in the oven.  Put an inch of water into the cookie sheet.  (I recommend using an old sheet or pan, if possible.)  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare your springform pan.  Use aluminum foil to wrap the outside of the pan in order to make the seam area at the bottom of the pan waterproof.  Grease the bottom and edges of the pan with shortening.  Prepare a graham cracker crust.  Press into your well-greased pan.

Note: if using an electric stand mixer, be sure to use a spatula to scrape the bowl between each ingredient addition to avoid chunky cheesecake and keep is smooth and creamy.

In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth.  Blend in milk, then mix in eggs one at a time,  mixing just enough to incorporate.  Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth.  Pour into pan.


Bake for 1 hour.  Keep an eye on your water bath during the baking hour to ensure that it doesn't run dry.  Replenish with more water if necessary.  Turn oven off.  (The center 3 to 4 inches of your cheesecake will still look very wobbly.  This is normal!)  Carefully pull the oven rack that the cheesecake is baking on out of the oven far enough that you can run a greased knife around the edge of the cheesecake.  Slide the rack back in and shut the oven door.  Allow the cheesecake to cool in the oven with the door closed for 5-6 hours to prevent cracking.  Chill in refrigerator before serving.  


Serve with your favorite topping and enjoy!


Now, let me tell you that the cooling times and techniques given are ideal, but not 100% necessary.  If I'm trying to speed the process along, I'll follow this process instead:  Bake for an hour... blah blah blah... Slide the rack back in, but leave the oven door cracked open and allow the cheesecake to cool for as long as you can (preferably at least an hour).  When you must, pull the cheesecake out of the oven and put it immediately into the refrigerator.

The only reason for the long, drawn out cooling process is to avoid a crack in the cheesecake- it is purely cosmetic.  It is really more important that your cheesecake be very firm and cool from refrigeration than having look perfect, but be warm or soft.  Honestly, I normally shorten the process quite a bit and have only had my cheesecake crack once and it was pretty minor!

I hope you all enjoy this!  It is a little bit of a hassle, but once you take a bite, you'll know it was worth it!!

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