This is entitled What NOT to do because my experience was sort of a comedy of errors minus me being amused by my inadequacies. I'm not unfamiliar with the ways of cheesecake making but it IS a pretty complicated dessert. Some tips before you even get started:
1) it takes a WICKED long time as in 30 minutes to prep, 1.5 hours to cook, 1 to cool and 6 to refrigerate...so make it when you have time. I obviously make it 2 hours before I need it and then turbo freeze the damn thing, but try to allow enough time for it to set properly.
2)experiment with what you put in it as in: biscotti instead of graham crackers (aHMAZing), ricotta instead of only cream cheese, goat cheese instead of ricotta, add honey, liquors, anything everything can go instead cheesecake EXCEPT some Italian-style have you spice it up with toasted almonds. I actually don't recommend this as decadent as it might sound. It gives a weirdly chewey texture to the crust and can make it too nutty to the point where people might ask if there's peanut butter in it. ew. Using biscotti is the best compromise because there are almonds in it and usually almond flavor/paste.
3) USE A HAND MIXER!!! you might ask "well..what else would I use?" I tried to get fancy and use my new Cuisinart (thanks mom!) but the cream cheese gets caught and doesn't mix evenly...hence where my comedy of errors started. A hand mixer you can tackle the cream cheese knots more effectively.
OK the recipe I used today:
Crust:
preheat oven to 350
1 tablespoon melted butter
3 T. sugar
1 2/3 graham cracker crumbs or 2 packages of biscotti cookies crushed
-Blend cookies/crumbs and sugar until mixed, add butter
-add mixture to a spring form pan that is DOUBLE wrapped in foil...stay tuned to find out why
-pack crumbs down into the pan and bake until golden brown at 350, should be roughly 12-15 minutes. Reduce baking temperature to 325 for the filling
While that's baking/cooling...
2 8oz things of cream cheese
1 15 oz container of ricotta..if you are standing confused at the dairy section hint: it's the small one..I always forget this then I feel obligated to make lasagna with the extras.
1 tsp vanilla extract..do NOT pour extract when you are hungry or caffeinated..(my hand shook and I dropped a new bottle in..shh!)
1 1/4 C sugar
4 large eggs room temperature
-Beat the two cheeses together, add sugar and extract and liqueur if you are a drunk. Then one at a time beat in eggs.
-Transfer to the cooled crust. Make sure the foil it tight before adding the filling.
-Put the spring form pan in a roasting pan and fill the roasting pan 3/4 the way up with warm/hot water. The steam and boiling water will cook the cake.
-Bake at 325 for roughly and 1 hour and 15 minutes. The filling will still be jiggly, but should have darkened in color slightly. Cool for one hour before placing in the frig for 6 hours.
Simple Strawberry Sauce:
-package of frozen strawberries
-splash of water or liqueur
-2 T sugar or 1 T strawberry jam
let everything simmer until liquid dissolves. Let sit several minutes before serving to thicken
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