Every year, Jon asks me to bake a homemade cake for his birthday. His usual favorites are carrot cake and German chocolate, so I was a little thrown when he asked for cheesecake this year. Not just any cheesecake, mind you. He had a very specific one in mind: Martha Stewart’s New York style cheesecake, with a graham cracker crust and raspberry sauce. Well, allrightythen.
I would have followed her recipe to the letter except that it called for a 10-inch springform and I only have an 8-inch. So I made an 8-inch cake, with a half dozen cupcakes on the side. This particular cheesecake requires no less than SEVEN bricks of cream cheese. Yes, you read that correct. Seven. Plus a cup of full fat sour cream. So, not for the faint of heart. But boy is it delicious. Rich, creamy, tangy with just the perfect amount of sweet. The graham cracker crust adds just the right amount of buttery crunch and the raspberry sauce is tart and fresh and perfect.
Jon was pretty pleased with the results. We celebrated his big day on Sunday with steaks and salad, so cheesecake was sort of a perfect way to end the night. Of course, the cake is so enormous, I think the celebration will last all week. Not that I’m complaining.
Happy Birthday Jon. I think this is going to be your best 29th year yet! xoxo
New York Style Cheesecake with Raspberry Coulis
Makes one 8-inch cake plus 6 cupcakes
Ingredients
12 graham crackers
6 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 Tablespoons sugar
pinch of Kosher salt
7 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
2 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
seeds scraped from one vanilla bean (optional)
5 eggs, room temperature
12 ounces frozen raspberries, thawed
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides of an 8-inch springform pan and place pan in a round cake pan. Line the wells of a six cup muffin tin with papers.
- To make crust, process graham crackers in a food processor until fine. Add sugar, salt and butter and pulse until combined. Place about 1 Tablespoon of crumb mixture into each muffin well, then pour remainder of the mixture into the springform pan. Use the bottom of a flat glass or meat pounder to press crust evenly into bottom of pan. Place pans in freezer for 15 minutes to freeze crust, then transfer pans to oven and bake for 15 minutes until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, place cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and beat with paddle attachment on medium speed until fluffy, scraping sides as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar and flour until evenly combined. With mixer on low speed, gradually add sugar mixture into cream cheese. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating just until combined.
- Pour cream cheese mixture over cooled crust in springform pan and fill muffin tins using an ice cream scoop. Set each pan into a large, shallow 9×13 inch baking pan. Carefully add boiling water into baking pans until water reaches halfway up the sides of the springform pan (still sitting inside a round cake pan).
- Place cake and cupcakes in oven and bake for 45 minutes. Remove cheesecakes from oven and allow to cool completely. Reduce temperature to 325 degrees and continue baking 8-inch cheesecake for another 20 to 30 minutes, until cake is set but center is still jiggly. Turn off oven and allow cake to cook with door ajar for 1 hour. Transfer cake to a wire rack and allow to cool completely before placing uncovered in the refrigerator overnight.
- To make raspberry coulis, combine raspberries, sugar, lemon juice and water in a blender. Blend until smooth then pour mixture into a wire sieve set over a small bowl. Use a spatula to push raspberry mixture through the sieve. Discard seeds.
- Run a knife around the edge of the cake before unfolding from springform pan. Drizzle with raspberry sauce just before serving.
