Quick Cheesecake

To make a basic cheesecake, which you can top with any fresh fruits of your choice, all you need is softened cream cheese, white sugar, vanilla extract, large eggs, and premade piecrust. The rich and wonderful texture of cheesecake is made from a combination of cheese, eggs and sugar. A crucial element in making delicious cheesecake is the kind of cheese you use. Poor quality cheese will lead to poor quality cheesecake so choose a high quality cream cheese.

Heavy and dense cheesecake like New York-style cheesecake is made with cream cheese like Philadelphia cream cheese while lighter Italian cheesecake is made with the more crumbly ricotta cheese. You can also use other kinds of cheeses depending on your taste preference and the texture you want to achieve—whether you want a light and ethereal dessert or a rich and dense cake. Some common cheeses used to make cheesecake are Neufchatel, cottage cheese, fresh cheese or fromage blanc, goat cheese, or mascarpone. Some even combine a variety of cheeses for more flavors and a more complex texture.

Before blending in the ingredients together, it is best for everything to be at room temperature. The cheese should be softened to make blending easier and the eggs should be well beaten before it is added to the other ingredients. One crucial rule for making successful cheesecake is to never over mix the ingredients, folding them together until they are just blended. One of the common problems encountered when making cheesecake is that it has the tendency to crack. Cheesecake relies on the eggs to hold it together. The cheesecake should be cooked slowly and gently to avoid overcooking the eggs and making them puffy. Quick changes in temperature upset the structure of the cheesecake so heat and cool gradually to achieve a smooth consistency.