by Debbie Stine

Created on: March 12, 2009

Cheesecakes are, without a doubt, one of the most popular desserts of all time. Because there are so many variations, you could most likely have a different cheesecake every day and not have the same one for quite a long time.

Even though they are so popular, many people proclaim to be afraid to attempt making one at home. I don't know if that is due to the fact that a special type of pan is usually required or just because the end product is almost always so impressive looking.

I know I was a bit intimidated prior to baking my first one many years ago. Up until that time, I only remember having a no-bake cheesecake with a fruit topping. They were delicious but what an eye opener it was to discover all the amazing cheesecake recipes available.

Some tips to keep in mind for making the perfect cheesecake are:

1) Use quality ingredients. Why attempt to make an impressive dessert and then try to save a few pennies and have your efforts fail.

2) Bringing ingredients to room temperature prior to mixing makes the process much easier. The ingredients blend and create a much smoother product. This goes for the eggs, cream cheese, sour cream,etc.

3) Avoid over mixing the batter. The introduction of too much air is one of the reasons that cracks may appear in a cheesecake after baking.

4) Place the spring form pan on a baking sheet to avoid drips in the oven during baking.

5) The use of a water bath is sometimes used for more even baking and therefore there is less chance of cracking also. A water bath is merely wrapping the spring form pan with foil and placing in a pan half full of water.

6) An easy way to crush cookies or graham crackers for the crust is to place them in a zip lock bag, squeezing out excess air and crushing right inside the bag to save on the mess of crumbs everywhere.

7) Sometimes a recipe will call for leaving the cheesecake in the oven after baking with the door closed. This is another way to reduce the chance of cracking.

8) The flavors and textures of cheesecake improve over time so it is okay to make the day ahead. The product should be fine if not better than it would have been the day before.

9) One of the most important things to keep in mind with cheesecakes is that even if cracks do appear (and chances are very good that they will), you can always top the cheesecake with fruit, nuts, whipped cream or whatever you have on hand to help disguise it.
Even if you don't have anything to put on top, chances are that no one will even notice a crack when they taste the wonderful dessert you have produced.

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