Review of lemon-swirled cheesecake

[schuh]

I made this for Easter. I did make a graham cracker crust instead of flour and used less nonfat cream cheese (as I generally don't like it) and used reduced fat instead. At the end of the allotted baking time the cheesecake seemed totally liquidy, so I kept it in the oven for an extra 10 min. -- even then it seemed very liquidy but I pulled it out of the oven anyway. The result: it tasted good and had a good texture, but boy was it ugly. It had puffed up in the oven to the height of the springform pan and then as it cooled it sunk in the middle. The edges were quite brown and you could barely see the lemon swirls on the cheesecake itself. And it was full of deep cracks, some right where I had swirled lemon. I piped some (much maligned) canned whipped cream around the outside to disguise the edges but the cracks were still there. Anyone have any idea what I did wrong? Anyone have tricks that they use to disguise cracked/ugly cheesecakes?

[Maggie]

I also made this for Easter and had an almost identical outcome. My cheesecake was hideous! It puffed up taller than the springform pan, sank in the middle, overbrowned on the edges, and had huge cracks. However, looks aside, my whole family thought it was very good.

It was still pretty liqidy at the end of the baking time but I took it out of the oven anyway and it did set up as it cooled. I used all 1/3 less fat cream cheese instead of the 2 fat free blocks--I'm not fond of the fat-free kind.

I've always heard that if your cheesecake puffs up too much it's because you over beat it, so that could be what went wrong. I may have beaten mine too long after adding each egg. I've also heard that putting a shallow dish of water on the shelf below the cheesecake while it cooks will help with the cracking problem. And I've also heard that partially cooling a cheesecake in the oven, with the door ajar, helps prevent cracks in the top. Obviously, I didn't try either of these with this cheesecake.

I will make this recipe again. However, I think I'll try to beat the filling a little less, put a pan of water in the oven while it cooks, and cool it in the oven for a while.

[catharine]

I made this a few weeks ago to bring to a dinner party. It was pretty ugly (although not sagging in the middle, fortunately). My friends said that is how they look in restaurants - that made me feel better http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif. But it was delicious!

[crazycook]

Hi schuh:
Sorry to hear about your cheesecake; I'm sure it tasted wonderful though. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif
Did you use a springform pan? If so, try wrapping the outside of the springform in a double layer of foil so that it is leakproof and will not absorb any water. Place the wrapped pan in a larger pan and fill the larger pan with water up to the halfway mark on the springform. This will prevent the cheesecake from puffing up, as the temperature will remain more even throughout the cake. It should also prevent the dreaded cracks which spoil the looks of your cheesecake. If you do not have a larger pan to place the springform, you can wrap MagicStrips™ (Wilton Industries--Now known as "Bake Even Strips")around the pan to keep the temperature uniform and place a small pan of water in the oven with the springform to keep the moisture level in the oven.
You can find the strips here online: http://www.wilton.com/wiltonos/default.asp?nProd=1291&nCat=69&itemno=415-262
Hope this helps. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[sneezles]

I also laid a sheet of foil over the top of the cake towards the end of the baking time, kind of like you do for a turkey to keep it from browning too much, it was helpful since I also had to cook it longer than the recipe called for.

[schuh]

While I don't wish that you all had bad experiences, at least I don't feel like I really screwed up! Thanks all for the suggestions. I've always avoided the water baths -- they sound complicated and with my luck that water would somehow end up in my cheesecake! I may have to break down and try that technique, though. I'm particularly intrigued by crazycook's suggestion of the strips, which I have already. I may try that before going to the water bath. I also did see the cooling in the oven thing in Cooks Illustrated -- they cooled their cheesecakes for about an hour in an oven with the door ajar. The reason I didn't try that was that I wondered if that would require decreasing the baking time (they only baked their recipe for 45 minutes). Finally, I had another friend (who makes gorgeous cheesecakes) say that she brings all her ingredients to room temperature first. It's a thought.

In the end, I'm sort of disappointed in CL. I think they could have tested this recipe better or given more explicit directions for how to make it look nice.

[bluebird]

I had planned on baking the lemon-swirled cheesecake but ran out of time (thankfully, I suppose). I've made cheesecake in the past and the recipe suggests baking at 325 for one hour, then turn off the temperature and leave the cake in the oven for another hour. When the second hour is up, remove and cool at room temperature for another half hour, then then refrigerate. That formula has worked in the past for me.

[SusanMac]

I'm bummed that everyone was so disappointed with this recipe. The incredible taste totally outweighed the overwhelming cracks in the middle. It definitely looked homemade with the cracks and everyone was dazzled with the lemon swirls. I'd definitely make this one again (I want to try the graham cracker crust next time though)

[sneezles]

SusanMac,
I don't think most of us were disappointed with this recipe. It just seems that CL had a different experience with the baking. Ovens do vary and so we have to make adjustments but the taste of this cheesecake is very good and I will make again, as will others I'm sure. Mostly, I think you should take into consideration the experience of others and be aware that the directions need tweeking.

[schuh]

SusanMac -- I've certainly made worse recipes than this (the Lemon Buttercrunch Bars come to mind) but I did think the recipe could have helped us produce a nicer looking dessert. But since I'm also a Cooks Illustrated fan, maybe my expectations are too high, as that magazine is as detailed as it gets.

If you want to try a graham cracker crust, here's what I did. It worked well but added some extra fat:
1 cup low-fat graham cracker crumbs (you have to buy the low-fat crackers and make crumbs in the food processor)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons sugar.
In a bowl stir together all ingredients until the mixture is combined well. Press the mixture onto the bottom of a springform pan. Bake the crust in the middle of a preheated 325 degree oven for 10 minutes and let it cool in the pan on a rack. (The bonus of this crust is you don't have to change the oven temperature in the recipe.)

Since I've never made a cheesecake I've been thrilled with, I think my next step is to try the regular, high-fat Cooks Illustrated cheesecake with the incredibly detailed directions just to get the knack of making a cheesecake. Since I have to lose this Easter weight first, it won't be for awhile -- but I'll try to remember to post the results when I do this!

[LGBurns]

For those who don't like the fat-free cream cheese, have you tried making nonfat yogurt cheese? I know it adds an extra step (and time) to making the cake but I think it makes for a very creamy texture and tastes better than fat-free cream cheese.

[Beth]

I also made this for Easter and really liked it. I had to bake mine Saturday night and didn't want to stay up late, so I pulled it out of the oven after a few extra minutes (the edges were lightly browning) and put it over my downdraft to cool quickly. I did get a couple of deep cracks around the swirled lenon curd, but I filled them in with leftover curd before topping with some mint leaves. Mine didn't rise as high as I expected given the 5 pkgs of cream cheese and 5 eggs (most of the recipes I have used call for 3 pkgs and 3-4 eggs and were about as high), but it did have a little rise around the edge. I have often had that and seen it on bakery/restaurant cheesecakes. Doesn't bother me at all.

I would have liked more of the lemon curd. I was thinking about trying leaving the lemon curd out before baking, then spreading the lemon curd over the top after baking and cooling. Then there would be lemon curd with every bite, and it could help conceal cracks too. I think my dad was disappointed there was no chocolate for dessert (he had white cupcakes with the kids), but everyone else polished theirs off.

[schuh]

That's an interesting idea about the lemon curd. What a great idea to fill in with it (although I didn't have any leftover.) I loved the taste of the lemon curd and will use it again.

[funnybone]

I made this cake twice last year and loved it. I found I needed to bake it longer than the recipe stated, but it was excellent. I always made it the day before I planned to serve it because I find that cheesecake is usually better that way, as it needs to be cooled completely before being cut. I also made the lemon curd ahead, so that I wasn't spending all that time on the cake at one time. I plan on making it again really soon.