black forest cheesecake failure, July 00 HELP

[Steph]

I made the black forest cheesecake in the recent issue. I know I followed the directions carefully. The taste was great, but the consistancy was wrong. It was almost like ricotta cheese in texture. It didn't set up I guess. The "turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in there for 40 minutes" seems strange, but I did it anyway. The flavor is definitely there. I need a diagnosis and a cure for this recipie. Any suggestions?

[NydiaC]

Steph,

I'm not sure about the cheesecake texture problem; however, I watched a show on food tv this weekend and, apparently turning off your oven and leaving the cheesecake in there for the extra 40 minutes is suppose to cook it "more gently" (as the lady on TV put it) so it won't crack. The other thing she did was cook the cheesecake in a water bath. She said the steam would also help the cheesecake not to crack.

I've only made one cheesecake before (the lemon swirl) and I over cooked it and it cracked, so next time I am going to try these tricks. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Vanessa]

In Nov 99 Gourmet there was an excellent article & recipes for cheesecakes. In Crakling they said the imp thing is DO NOT OVERBAKE! Also run a knife @ edges as soon as cake comes out of the oven since the cake will shrink when it cools and if sides are stuck to the pan the surface will split open. Sometimes splits will happen no matter what and you can camuflage by carefully spreading a thin layer of sour cream onto a chilled cake, leave in the fridge overnight to set up and it will look perfect!
Oh it noted to buy a springform stating 24 centimeters rather than 9 or 9.5 inches

[LynnSC]

Hi,
I have made this cheesecake three times believe it or not. The first time I made it, I forgot to put in the sweetened condensed milk until it had baked for 5 minutes. I dumped it all out and added the milk and put it back in the oven. It came out perfect. The last two times I made it (last week), I was in Fla. at my in laws.I followed the directions exactly. I had the same problem with the texture. I thought maybe it was the humidity? I am sure I will try it again and take into account the above suggestions people have offered. Otherwise, I will start baking it for 5 minutes, dumping it out and adding the milk and finishing it! :-) LOL!
Lynn

[Steph]

Thanks for all the tips. I guess I'll try again. I moved on to a chocolate malt cake from a previuos issue. It was delicious.

Stephanie