JUNIOR'S CHEESECAKE WITH SHORTBREAD CASHEW CRUST

Junior's cheesecake, had been on my mind, ever since I got creative with my first one. This time, I fully intended to follow the original recipe to a "T"; but, true to my nature, made some changes at the last minute. Instead of the sponge cake base that Junior's is known for, I tried a shortbread-cashew crust, which turned out unbelievably good. Of course, you can use the Keebler shortbread cookies, but they have ingredients listed that I don't want to eat. Real shortbread is considerably more expensive, but the ingredient list is a lot shorter -- just flour, butter, sugar and salt. Since this cheesecake calls for only one flavoring (vanilla), go for the best. I used Nielsen-Massey vanilla paste (Williams Sonoma), and you can see the vanilla bean specks in the cheesecake if you look closely. (By the way, this cheesecake was made almost two months ago. )

Good Morning America posted the recipe for Junior's Famous No. 1 Cheesecake. It's from the cookbook, "Welcome to Junior's! Remembering Brooklyn With Recipes and Memories from Its Favorite Restaurant." The directions implicity state that you should use regular cream cheese, not light. Hrmpph. I hate it when people tell me what I can't do. Sure, it's going to be better if you use full fat cream cheese. But that doesn't mean you can't make a good cheesecake with Neufchatel cheese. Just to prove my point, that's what I did. I reduced the heavy cream by 1/4 cup to allow for the extra liquid in the Neufchatel cheese.

The final verdict is in: The buttery, nutty crust on this cheesecake is the bomb (and the extra fat in it more than makes up for what was saved by using light cream cheese and less heavy cream). The cheesecake is excellent with its mild yet full vanilla flavoring and firm creaminess, and is now in a neck-to-neck race with my all-time favorite, Lindy's. (I see a throwdown coming.)
I hope you're not one of those people that's afraid to make a cheesecake, because they are amazingly forgiving. My son made cheesecakes many times before he realized he was overbaking them. And he thoroughly enjoyed every overbaked cheesecake. He's finally learned how to tell when a cheesecake is done: watch it through the oven window. Watch it puff up around the edges. But don't let it puff up all the way to the center. It should jiggle and look undone when you turn off the heat. See, this is what I love about the Lindy's recipe. It's baked at a high temp, then you turn the oven way down, so the cheesecake cools gradually. It never cracks and it's smooth as butter when you eat it. Most cheesecakes are baked at the wrong temperature, causing cracking.

I was all set to enjoy eating this cheesecake. Before I could indulge, though, my neighbor came to the door asking if she could buy a dessert from me for company she was expecting. What could I do? I gave her the cheesecake. Thankfully, I had made a little 4" cake for Guy and me. So at least I got to taste it, but it was barely a few mouthfuls. Drizzled in butterscotch-caramel sauce that perfectly complemented the vanilla cheesecake and its divine shortbread-cashew crust, I was in heaven, albeit for a very brief moment.

Junior's Cheesecake with Shortbread-Cashew Crust
Cheesecake adapted from GMA recipes and Junior's, NYC
Crust: Judy's Kitchen
Rating: Cheesecake: 9.5 out of 10
Crust: 10 out of 10

INGREDIENTS:
CRUST: 1 pkg. (5.3 oz or 150g) Walkers pure butter shortbread (about 1-1/4 cups crushed)
1/3 cup salted cashews
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. coriander
3 Tbsp. melted Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend

Preheat oven to 350F. In work bowl of food processor, place all ingredients except SB and pulse several times until everything is reduced to crumbs. Drizzle in the melted SB and continue to pulse till mixture is evenly moistened. Press mixture into a 9" springform pan that's been wrapped in two thicknesses of aluminum foil (or, as I did, divide between an 8" springform pan and a 4-1/2" springform pan, also wrapped in foil). Bake about 10 minutes (the small pan will be done in about 8 minutes). Cool thoroughly while preparing cheesecake filling.

CHEESECAKE FILLING: 4 (8-oz) pkgs. cream cheese (I used Neufchatel)
1-2/3 cups sugar
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract (the best you can afford)
2 extra-large eggs (or 2-1/2 large)
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream (reduce to 1/2 if using Neufchatel)

Wipe out the work bowl with a damp paper towel. Place 1 pkg. of cream cheese and the sugar in the bowl and pulse till well combined. Add the other blocks of cream cheese, one at a time, and pulse well after each addition. Scrape down sides after each. Be sure the mixture is completely smooth, creamy and well mixed. Add the eggs, one at a time, and just pulse briefly after each. Add the cornstarch and cream, pulsing just till combined and smooth with no lumps. Butter the exposed sides of each pan. Spoon about 1 cup of batter into the small pan and spoon the rest into the 8" pan.

Set out a large, shallow pan filled with very hot water and place both pans in the water. Set in the oven and bake the small pan about 30 minutes, and the larger pan about 50 minutes, till the outside edges have puffed up but the centers are still quite jiggly. Transfer to a warm place, free of drafts, to thoroughly cool before transferring to a wire rack in a cooler place. Refrigerate overnight to "cure" the flavors. Serve with caramel sauce and chopped salted cashews. (Recommended: Smucker's Special Recipe Butterscotch-Caramel Sauce).

You may want to check out my other spectacular vanilla cheesecake from Food & Wine Magazine.

NEW YORK-STYLE CHEESECAKE WITH MASCARPONE and MACERATED STRAWBERRIES

This was the dessert I served on Father's Day for the 3 fathers who ate at our table. It was a success on a day when almost everything seemed to go wrong. I used several recipes for this cake and made changes to everything anyway, so it's pretty pointless to list a source. (But if you insist on knowing, I adapted a crust from a Food & Wine May 2003 recipe entitled "Lemon Ripple Cheesecake Bars," and I adapted a cheesecake filling from Suite101.com's Strawberry Cheesecake Recipe published Jan. 24, 2008.)
New York-Style Cheesecake with Mascarpone and Macerated Strawberries
Rating: 9 out of 10
INGREDIENTS:
CRUST: 1 cup white whole wheat (or regular whole wheat) flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
2 packs True Lemon (or 1 Tbsp. lemon juice)
1/8 tsp. sea salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" pieces and chilled

CHEESECAKE FILLING: 3 packages (8 oz. each) Neufchatel cheese, softened
1 container (8 oz.) Mascarpone cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups super-fine sugar
1 tsp. orange zest
2 packets True Lemon (or 1 Tbsp. lemon juice)
2 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or regular vanilla extract)
2 large eggs
2 egg whites
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup lite sour cream
2 Tbsp. fat-free half and half

Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 325F and position a rack in the center. Butter a 9" springform pan. In a food processor, pulse all ingredients until a soft, crumbly dough forms. Press dough evenly over the bottom and a scant 1/2" up the sides of the pan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden and firm. Set aside to cool on a wire rack.

Make the cheesecake filling: Preheat oven to 450F. Place pan of hot water in bottom of oven. In food processor, pulse the cheeses and sugar until smooth and fluffy, scraping down sides as needed. Add flavorings and eggs, one at a time, and process till smooth after each addition. Add cornstarch, sour cream and half and half and pulse just till combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes. Without opening oven door, reduce heat to 250F and bake an additional 35-45 minutes, or till cheesecake is just slightly jiggly in center. (Mine took 45 minutes, and my oven runs "true.") Remove to a wire rack away from drafts to finish cooling. Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight before cutting.
Make Macerated Strawberries: 15 minutes to 1 hour before serving, Slice 1 pint of strawberries into a medium bowl. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4-1/3 cup Creme de Almond over the strawberries and stir to distribute. (In place of Creme de Almond, you can use any orange liqueur.) Grate some good-quality dark chocolate over each cheesecake slice and serve with macerated strawberries on the side.

This cheesecake will serve 10-12 people.

NEW YORK STYLE STRAWBERRY SWIRL CHEESECAKE

This cheesecake is an adaptation of a recipe I found on recipezaar.com. The baking temps are perfect, resulting in a creamy, smooth and solid cheesecake with no cracking and no browning on the top. The flavors of real vanilla bean mixed with True Lemon were great, and the strawberry puree was outstanding (left over glaze from the strawberry cream tart -- see previous post under pastries -- fruit tarts). This one is a keeper. (If you're not familiar with True Lemon, click this link: http://www.truelemon.com/.)

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake
Rating: 9 out of 10
STRAWBERRY PUREE:
1/2 pt. strawberries
1/4 cup superfine sugar
1-1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. water
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. butter or Smart Balance

Wash, hull and cut strawberries; place in medium heavy saucepan, crushing them with a potato masher. Add remaining ingredients except butter and heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Cook for 1 minute or so, or till mixture is thickened. Remove from heat and strain through a sieve. Stir in butter. Cool thoroughly.

CRUST:
1-1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup superfine sugar
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
1/4 tsp. sea salt

Preheat oven to 325F. In work bowl of food processor, combine all ingredients. Pulse till combined, adding a tsp. or more of water, if needed, to bring dough together. Pat dough onto bottom and 1" up sides of a greased 8" springform pan. Place on a baking sheet. Bake
for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

FILLING:
3 (8-oz.) pkgs. Neufchatel cheese, softened
1 cup superfine sugar
3 large eggs + 1 egg yolk, room temperature
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla beans scraped from 1 pod (or 1 tsp. vanilla)
1 packet True Lemon (or 1-1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice)
3 Tbsp. lite sour cream

Increase oven heat to 400F. Cut 2 large circles of heavy duty aluminum foil and place the springform pan with the cooled crust inside. Wrap the foil around the sides of the pan, tucking in tightly. In workbowl of food processor, combine cheese, sugar and 1 egg. Pulse till well combined and creamy, about 1 minute, scraping sides and bottom. Add remaining eggs and yolk, one at a time, pulsing and scraping after each addition. Add remaining ingredients and pulse just till combined. Pour the batter evenly over the cooled crust. Using about 2/3 - 1 cup of cooled strawberry puree, spoon dollops over top of cheesecake. Using a knife or spatula, gently swirl the puree into the batter. Place the pan, wrapped in foil, in a large baking dish. Fill the baking dish with hot water halfway to the top of the cheesecake pan, and place in oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Without opening oven door, reduce heat to 250F. Bake for an additional 90 minutes, or till cheesecake is set. Transfer cake to wire rack to cool thoroughly, then refrigerate, covered, overnight. Yield: 12 servings

TO SERVE: 1. Spoon additional strawberry puree on plate and top with cheesecake slice.
2. Or, Place slice on plate; Squirt some Redi-Whip beside the slice. Place a whole strawberry in the Redi-Whip. Sprinkle shaved dark chocolate over all.

BEST OF THE BEST CHEESECAKE

Here's another great cheesecake recipe. It's from a series of recipes called "Best of the Best," but I don't remember the source. It could have been Woman's Day or Family Circle. It's pretty old, maybe from the 70's. I've made this recipe several times and the cheesecake is New York style, but it's lighter because you beat the egg whites separately and add them in at the end. But I do have a problem with the amounts -- if I pour all the batter into a 9" springform pan, it overflows. So I recommend using a 10" pan if you make this, or use a 9" and an 8" because you will have enough for both. I don't have a photo because I haven't made this one in a while, but next time I post I will give you the recipe I came up with based on this recipe, and a photo to go with it. Here's the recipe:

The Best of the Best: No. 5/Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS: 1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (I took this out, if you like cinnamon, keep it in)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
3 8-oz. pkgs. cream cheese, room temperature
1-1/4 cups sugar (I reduced to 1 cup)
6 eggs, separated, room temperature
1 pint dairy sour cream
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Grated rind of 1 lemon (about 1 Tbsp.)
Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 Tbsp.)
1/4 tsp. salt (my addition)

DIRECTIONS: To make crust: Spray a 10-inch springform pan (or a 9" and an 8") with non-stick cooking spray. Place pan in center of a 12-inch square of aluminum foil and press foil up around side of pan. Combine cracker crumbs, sugar (and cinnamon if using) and melted butter in small bowl until well blended. (I put everything in the food processor and pulsed.) Press 3/4 cup of crumb mixture onto bottom and side of pan. Chill prepared pan while making filling. (Reserve remaining crumb mixture for top, if desired.)
To make filling: With electric mixer on low speed or with a wooden spoon, beat cream cheese in a large bowl until soft. Gradually beat in sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time, until well blended. Stir in sour cream, flour, vanilla, lemon rind and juice until smooth. In a separate medium sized bowl, beat egg whites until they hold stiff peaks. Fold whites into the cheese mixture, soufle fashion, until well blended. Pour into prepared pan. Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees F) 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until top is golden; turn off oven heat and allow cake to cool in oven for 1 hour. (I baked at 325 degrees F because I was using a dark-coated pan. -- Using a 10-inch pan, you will have to adjust time. If you are unsure about doneness, open oven door, jiggle pan. If it shakes to much in the middle, give it more time. You want the center to be almost set but still a little jiggly when you turn the heat off.) Remove cake from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack at room temperature. If desired, sprinkle remaining crumbs on top. Chill overnight before serving. Yield: 12-16 servings
Please let me know if you make this, and tell me how it turns out.

LINDY'S NEW YORK CHEESECAKE, CONTINUED

Yesterday I published the recipe for Lindy's fantastic New York cheesecake, made with a food processor. Today I want to give the directions for making the cheesecake with a stand mixer. Although I have not made this cheesecake recipe with my KitchenAid stand mixer, I have made other cheesecakes with it. As I said yesterday, I prefer making cheesecakes with my Cuisinart 14-cup food processor. Here are the directions from the recipe I used. The ingredients were listed yesterday and do not change.

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING LINDY'S CHEESECAKE WITH STAND MIXER:

Prepare dough by combining flour, sugar, and lemon zest. Make a well in center and add egg yolk and butter. Work together quickly with pastry blender or hands. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice if necessary to bind dough. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill thoroughly, at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove ring from springform pan. Roll one third of the dough 1/8 inch thick and place over bottom of pan. Trim the edge and bake in preheated oven till light golden brown, from 8 - 12 minutes. Cool. Place the springform sides over the baked base. Roll the remaining dough 1/8 inch thick and cut to fit the sides of the pan, pressing firmly to fit and seal the base. Trim the dough to come only 3/4 of the way up the sides. (See my note from yesterday.)

Preheat oven to 550 degrees. Cream cheese with sugar and flour until smooth. Add eggs and two additional yolks one at a time and blend. Add the flavorings and cream, mix well, and pour into prepared springform. Bake at 550 degrees for 10-12 minutes, then without opening oven door, reduce temp to 250 degrees and continue to bake for one hour. Cool the cake to room temp before glazing.

If you make the cheesecake, please give me feedback on how it turns out. My neighbor came this morning to get the cheesecake. She took 3/4 instead of a half and I charged her $25. Now that my freezer is empty of Lindy's, I can make it again. But first I have to make a fresh coconut cake, a lemon pound cake and a lemon trifle. (I have 10 lemons to use up from making limoncello which turned out fabulous! I will post that recipe later, but forgot to take a photo of the vodka with the lemon peels in it. Not to worry. I intend to make it again.)

LINDY'S NEW YORK CHEESECAKE

This recipe has been around a long time. Lindy's is the daddy of all cheesecakes. The restaurant went out of business in the 70's without ever having given out the recipe for their world famous cheesecake. Gourmet Magazine published what they called the authentic recipe in a 1951 publication and it made the rounds like all good recipes. I have it in several old cookbooks and it's all over the internet. I don't know why I never made it. Always wanted to. The thought of making a real cookie crust rolled onto the springform pan intimidated me, as did working with the insane temperatures. Well call this my last fling or whatever, but I finally bit the bullet. Problems started early with the cookie crust. I guess I rolled it too thin and turned my back on the oven. I set the timer for 10 minutes, but the cookie must have gotten done at 5 minutes, because when I smelled it burning it was too late! I quickly made another batch of cookie dough and this time rolled it thicker. The dough is very short, so hard to roll and work with. Rather than overload it with flour and get a tough cookie, I worked with it in pieces. No problem it went on the pan fine. Next the temperatures. I used the cheap Wilton 9-inch springform pan that comes in a set of 3 from Wal-Mart for about $10.00. It's nonstick and dark. So I lowered the temperatures by 25 degrees to compensate for dark pan. I also put the pan on a bright aluminum cookie sheet because I didn't know if it would spill over. The 9" pan filled right up to the edge of the cookie dough. Be sure you go up a generous 3/4 when you put the cookie dough on the sides, or you'll be short. Since the batter went up so high, I expected it to rise like other cheesecakes, but I was pleasantly surprised. It stayed right there the whole time. I also put a pan of hot water beneath the cheesecake. The cheesecake batter itself I made in my Cuisinart food processor (14-cup) -- I also did the cookie dough in the Cuisinart and just wiped it out before doing the cheesecake batter. (I think the Cuisinart makes a better cheesecake batter, but I could be wrong. I would have to do the same recipe two different ways to be sure.) The timing and temperatures on this recipe are genuinely scary. I set the oven at 525 for 10 minutes, then without opening the oven door, set the oven down to 225 and set the timer on one hour. At the end of an hour, I opened the door and jiggled the pan. It was very wiggly and I knew it was not done. Since I had opened the door briefly, I turned the oven back on and it registered 281 degrees. I turned it back off and let the cheesecake sit for another half hour. I checked it again and it didn't wiggle, so I took it out and let it cool. Then I was worried I overbaked it. I cooled it completely on the counter, then put it in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap overnight. (It's best not to serve it the day you make it.) When I sliced into it the next day, it was absolutely perfect! The flavorings in this recipe are excellent and the texture is divine -- like eating solidified cream. The cookie crust is tender and not at all overpowering. Served with fresh fruit and a mint sprig it's an elegant dessert to grace any table. What I especially like about this recipe is that the batter does not crack, does not puff up and does not change. Please try it. It's not hard, you just have to take care. I will definitely make it again and again. Now for the final note: my neighbor called me yesterday to ask if she could buy a dessert from me for a party she is having Saturday. Voila! I had just put 3/4 of the cheesecake in the freezer and she only needs a half. She was delighted as was I because I am wanting to sell some of my desserts now. I have been giving them away like crazy and selling them will help to validate me, which is what this is all about. Anyway, you will get 12-16 servings from this cheesecake, depending on your appetite. I think 16 if you serve it with fruit. It's very rich. Here's the recipe with my changes:


LINDY'S CHEESECAKE


Ingredients: CRUST 1 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg yolk, room temp
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 tsp. lemon zest (I used a microplane grater)


FILLING 24 oz. Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
16 oz. Philadelphia Neufchatel cheese, softened (recipe calls for 40 oz.
of cream cheese)
1-3/4 cups sugar
1-1/2 tsp. ea. lemon zest and orange zest
5 eggs plus 2 egg yolks, room temp
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (recipe calls for 1/2 tsp.)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice (recipe does not call for lemon juice)
1/4 cup heavy cream, room temp
3 Tbsp. flour

DIRECTIONS Place all dough ingredients in food processor and pulse several times till dough starts to leave sides of processor. If dough is too dry and doesn't come together, just add a teaspoon or more of lemon juice and pulse again. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in fridge at lease one hour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove ring from 9" springform pan. Roll almost a half of the dough on lightly floured wax paper to about 1/8 thickness and place on bottom of pan. (Alternately, you can just press the dough onto the pan, conforming to fit.) Trim edges to fit and bake in preheated oven 8-12 minutes, checking at 8 minutes. Remove when dough is a light golden brown. Cool. Place the springform sides over the baked base. Roll the remaining dough about 1/8 inch thick and cut to fit sides of pan. It will be easier if you butter the sides first. This will give the dough something to cling to. Be sure you seal the base. Just lightly press the new dough to overlap slightly on the base. When you are all done, take a plastic knife and trim the dough so that it comes a generous 3/4 of the way up the sides of the pan.

Turn the oven to 550 degrees (or 525 if you are using dark or coated pan). Be sure all your ingredients are at room temperature. Don't rush this process. Place 1 block of cheese and 1/3 cup of sugar in the food processor and blend smooth for about 10 seconds. Continue with additional blocks of cheese and sugar till all are processed. Add the lemon and orange zests and the 2 egg yolks and process again till smooth. Add the remaining 5 eggs, one at a time, processing till smooth after each addition. Add heavy cream and vanilla, processing till smooth. Lastly, add flour and just pulse briefly till combined. Pour into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes, then, without opening oven door, reduce temperature to 250 (or 225 for dark or coated pans) and continue to bake for one more hour. Check the cake for doneness by jiggling pan. If it wiggles, close the oven door and leave in oven for 15-30 minutes longer. When cake no longer wiggles, it is done. Remove to cake rack to cool. Cool completely before covering and placing in fridge overnight. May be frozen for up to 6 months.