Basic Baked Cheesecake can't be more basic than this

messy-looking, but utterly creamy and delicious

Making cheesecakes was one of my first goals when I started baking (don't know how it devolved to making dozens of muffins instead -_-; ). But since cream cheese is expensive, I didn't want to risk my money on dud recipes so I patiently waited for my Cheesecake Book from Amazon to arrive. And it did, before Holy Week, so I had the pleasure to peruse a number of cheesecake recipes during the holidays, all unique and very informative. The Japanese are genius at making recipe books - even the best English ones are only half as comprehensive and easy to use. There are pictures of each little step, complete with commentary, so even a total idiot would be hard-pressed to totally mess up a recipe. Add to that the Japanese palate which does not fancy overly sweet and sugar bombarded foods, and I don't even have to mess around the sugar proportions! How convenient is that! :)


One thing I was initially stymied about was the sour cream required in almost all recipes. I didn't want to spend a fortune on the refrigerated heavy cream, so I decided to try out the Nestle Cream in can - not the all-purpose one, but rather the Premium Quality labeled one. I figured that since it'll turn out to be more like a custard, canned cream wouldn't matter. I squeezed in the juice from one calamansi over the still-cold cream. On hindsight, this was a mistake, since I found out later that it takes much more than one calamansi to make a tablespoon, and that the cream was too cold to curdle! Well never mind, since the recipe called for a teaspoon of lemon juice, I just added in a bit more juice than called for.

I was totally disgusted at SM Supermarket Clark when I went and found out that not only was there no President French Butter (unsalted OR salted), they didn't even have any Philadelphia Cream Cheese! And to think I thought I had a good chance because SM Lipa even carries Neufchatel! Arghhh!! They only have Anchor whipping cream by the way, while SM Lipa has half a dozen varieties. What a totally useless supermarket. I think I'll be buying exclusively from Marquee next time. So, despite feeling blasphemous, I went ahead and bought a single package of Magnolia Cream Cheese. I would've bought more, but I didn't want to risk it if the cream cheese turned out horrible!

My fears were unfounded, though, since the Basic Baked Cheesecake turned out surprisingly well. I broke into a cold sweat when my mom, right before taking the first bite, said "Let's see if it tastes like Holiday Inn's cheesecake." I was about to tell her that it's too tough of an act to follow, but kept my mouth shut. I love Holiday Inn's cheesecake. In fact, last year, I asked my Daddy to buy me a cheesecake instead of a birthday cake for my birthday :)

Imagine my delight when my mom said, "Yes, it does taste like Holiday Inn's." WOW. I took a bite as well, and yes, it was quite good. I actually like it a bit better than the cheesecake at Conti's. It wasn't as dense as Holiday Inn's - more creamy but that may be because I didn't bake the 6-inch pan long enough. It wasn't undercooked though. I thought it was a little tart when I ate it last night, but the tartness mellowed by morning.But Mommy never noticed anything about the mellowing. The book did mention that the cheesecake develops the flavor overnight, and I think this was true.

Here are the adjustments:

1) Used 225g pkg. Magnolia cream cheese instead of 250g
2) adjusted liquids downward to about 90g sour cream and 90g yogurt
3) Used 6-inch regular pan with parchment and 4-inch springform pan. Springform pan is much better, or devise ways to make a cleaner edge from regular pan with parchment.
4) Using pre-crushed graham crackers saves prep time.
5) Make sure to curdle the sour cream in advance next time.
6) Baked 4 inch pan @ 40 minutes, 6-inch pan @ 45 mins. The 4 inch pan may be better off at 30-35 mins to prevent creacking, the 6-inch pan may be better off at 45-50 mins.
7) The cheesecakes take a while to cool on the rack, then they take at least 3 hours to refrigerate - must be made a day in advance.
8) Since sifting the cheesecake mixture through a sieve is a must and the bottom of the sieve touching the batter is a royal pain, I'm considering sifting the batter first before pouring into the pan. The brown spots are also the left over bits from sifting - what to do with those? Press them more into the sieve so they become fine enough?
9) The batter does rise about 1/3, so take that into account. It shrinks while cooling, though.


I am very pleased with my 2nd ever cheesecake. The basic baked cheesecake is so easy to make and so delicious, it's almost unbelievable. Is this recipe a keeper? Definitely yes! I'm looking forward to working through all the cheesecake recipes in the book :D This is another of those times that I'm so thankful I can read Japanese.