Entertain Easily at Brunch
- hey guys, today i'mgonna show you how to make one of my favorite springtime desserts. it's a homemade creme fraiche cheesecake. now this recipe is goingout to anna from malaysia. anna, you have been very patient with me as you have waited for this recipe. well today is your dayand i'm gonna show you how to make a killer homemade cheesecake. so we're first gonna createthe crust for our cheesecake.
traditionally cheesecake ismade with graham crackers and that is the basis for the crust. the easiest thing todo is just to put your graham crackers in a ziplock bag and give 'em a goodwhack with a rolling pin. that will prevent having todrag out the food processor and then clean it, one ofmy worst kitchen chores. once your graham crackersare finely ground you're gonna transfer them to a bowl,
add a little bit of sugar, and salt, then we're gonna add sixtablespoons of melted butter. now the trick with the meltedbutter when it comes to a graham cracker crust isto go easy on the butter. we've all had those cheesecakeswhere you bite into it and the crust is hard as brick, it's usually because there'stoo much butter in it, so you really want to go easy on it and that will give you anice crumbly crust which is,
in my opinion, the markof a great cheesecake. now to make a cheesecakeyou really need to invest in a nine inch springform pan. a springform pan is essentiallyjust a cake pan that has a springed ring to itand what that will do is allow your cheesecake to easilyrelease once it's cooked. they're really critical for a cheesecake so if you don't have one youcan usually pick one up for under ten dollars and they'rea great investment to make.
you want to butter thebottom and the sides of the springform panto allow your cheesecake to release once it's done. then you're gonna takeyour crumbly mixture, you're gonna pour the wholething in the bottom of the pan and then you're gonnastart to pat it down. and at first you might be thinking "oh my gosh, how is this evergonna turn into a crust?" but it does, and here'sa little trick for you.
you wanna take a measuringcup and just kind of push it into the side of thering, moving the pan as you go and you will see that willhelp it adhere to the sides all the way around the ring. and then here's the finaltip to get a pretty crust, you wanna then take yourfinger and along the top of the graham crackercrust just pat it down. you basically are tryingto create a uniform ring so that the edges are allroughly the same size.
this will allow foryour cheesecake to have a really pretty crustonce you release the mold and prevent kinda that raggedcrust looking cheesecake that we've probably all seen. then you're gonna pop yourcrust in the oven at 325 for anywhere from 10 to 12 minutes. so now for our filling. so for me the secret of alight, fluffy cheesecake is to use already whipped cream cheese.
now cheesecakes arealso know for their tang and the tang is typicallycoming from sour cream but for me i like my cheesecake to be more luxurious and creamy, and ikinda go easy on the tang, so i like to use creme fraiche instead. creme fraiche is just a french product that mimics sour cream butfor me it's not as tangy and it's really delicious insomething like a cheesecake because it will help withthe texture and make it
all the more smooth,creamy, and delicious. then you're also gonna add your sugar. you're gonna beat thatall up just until combined and then you're going to add your eggs. the secret with the eggs, though, is to get the balance rightbetween whole eggs and egg yolks and i've done a lot of experimentation and for me i find the best combination are two whole eggs to three egg yolks.
so go head and add your eggs one at a time making sure that eachone is well-incorporated before adding the next andthen scrape down the bowl and give it one good final whirl. now a lot of people atthis stage would add lemon zest to a cheesecakeand that is good you could definitely do that, but i tend to like to use vanilla instead. especially for this recipe because
we're going to be addingraspberries on top which have a little bit of abitter tang to them anyway. i like to use vanilla beans instead of vanilla extract in thisbecause it tends to look a little bit more gourmet and impressive but if you can't find the vanilla beans or if they're reallyexpensive where you live, 'cause sometimes they canbe, then definitely use a vanilla extract, thatwould work as well.
give that a good mix and thenyou're gonna add your flour. the flour is also gonna helpwith the structure and make it a little bit more cake-like sothat when you actually cut in to the cheesecake you'll get cleaner cuts. at this point your crust is nice and cool and you can go ahead and pourthe filling into the pan. i know there are bakers out there that swear by the bain-marie. if you're not familiar with the bain-marie
it's basically taking a pan of hot water, wrapping your cheesecake in foil, placing it in the water,and baking it that way. and a lot of people swearby this because they say it makes a creamier, moreluxurious cheesecake. i have tried it thatway, i've done it both, and i can tell you this, with this recipe it makes no difference. so i say don't go through the effort
of a bain-marie 'causeit can be kind of a pain, and just pop your cheesecake in the oven. so typically what i willdo is at the hour mark i will insert a toothpickand see if it comes out looking like a cheesecake center. you're not looking for itto actually come out clean but you just don't want it tocome out gooey and wet inside. that means it's not done, it needs at leastanother 10 to 15 minutes.
if it comes out looking like kinda fluffy like a cheesecake centerthen you know it's done and go ahead and pull it out. so while your cheesecake isbaking you can then get on with making the homemadewhipped cream for the topping. you're going to whisktogether some heavy cream, some vanilla, and some powdered sugar. so whisk that up justuntil stiff peaks form. you really want to make sure that
that whipped cream is stiffbecause you're going to eventually transfer it intoa pastry bag with a star tip. you're gonna be using this whipped cream in a decorative fashion soit's really a lot better if it has some structure to it. now when your cheesecake is done, let it cool for just about ten minutes and then release itfrom the springform pan. at that point go aheadand pop it in the fridge.
your cheesecake shouldreally be completely cold before you go ahead andput the topping on it. four hours or sometimes evenovernight is really ideal. when it comes time todecorating your cheesecake here's what you're gonna do. you're gonna take a halfa cup of raspberry jam, pop it in the microwavefor about 30 seconds, you just want that jamto become liquefied. if you don't have amicrowave, that's okay,
you can put it in a little saucepan and heat it over a low flame. you're then gonna allowit to cool slightly, you don't wanna put hot jam onto your nicely cooled cheesecake, and then slowly spoon over thejam on top of the cheesecake spreading it all around just until you get a nice thin layer. on top of the jam you're gonnaadd some fresh raspberries.
and then the final step is to take your homemade whipped cream, transfer it into a pastrybag fitted with a star tip, and go ahead and create little rosettes all around the perimeterof the cheesecake. (folk-style instrumental music) so anna there you have it. a homemade cheesecake that will definitely impress your new husband andprobably your new in-laws, too.
i hope you give this one a try and let me know what you think and i'll see you guys back here next week when i'm gonna share with you another easy and delicious recipe. i'll see you then. (gentle strumming music)
