The thought of a silky-rich cheesecake is enough to make you want to eat up a slice. But here’s the problem – most cheesecakes out there are dreadfully disappointing. Grocery store versions are expensive defrosted simulations, and making cheesecake from scratch makes for earthquake fault lines throughout, that is, until now. Finally, there’s a way to make a cheesecake that skips the classic water bath and gets you closer to a truly unbelievable bakery-style cheesecake.
On chef and baker Brian Lagerstrom’s YouTube channel, he goes about making mistakes and finding out the best way to make classic dishes. He shows the many (and I mean many) trials and tribulations of getting a great cheesecake, and it looks like he cracked the code in an unsuspecting place – the crust.
Yes, the crust, specifically a thick bottom and side crust, is all you need to cut corners and forgo the fancy French water bath method. It’s hard to know exactly why this recipe doesn’t require a water bath, but it seems like there’s a plausible reason for it. Par baking a thick crust that goes up the sides of the cheesecake acts as an insulator for the cheesecake custard. So what does that mean? Essentially as the cheesecake cooks in the oven, the crust, not the cheesecake custard, will get the brunt of the heat, and the custard will get transferred, passive heat.
Now just because you don’t have to do a water bath doesn’t mean to you skip other essential steps in making a cheesecake. The crumbs have to have enough butter to create a sandy paste that you can form with your hands. He does an interesting technique for the crust formation and compresses the side crust into the pan first, then puts the remaining crust into the bottom, and bakes it. As the crust cools, he sets about making the filling.
Room temperature, and I mean really, truly room temperature cream cheese, is the key to a soft and smooth filling. Beating the mixture on a low to medium speed makes it lump-free and prevents air bubbles from forming. Now he adds two ingredients to bolster the zing of the cream cheese – goat cheese and lemon zest. You may think that the goat cheese would be too strong, but the cream cheese and sugar quell any of the strong goat flavors of these secret (now not-so-secret) ingredients.
After the cheesecake bakes and cools in the oven, it rests at room temperature, and then finally has an overnight chill out time in the refrigerator. This gradual cooling process also prevents any cracks from forming. I know it’s hard to wait this long, but a cold, sliceable cheesecake is what we’re after!
He finishes off the cheesecake with a cherry topping that comes together quickly on the stovetop. I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking for more crust so this cheesecake is right up my alley. Honestly, can anyone really complain about the extra crust, are there such people? Hard to believe, but you have to try this cheesecake out for yourself!
If you want to see the full process from start to finish you can watch it below!