New York Style Cheesecake
New York Style Cheesecake is an incredible dessert. It's dense with a rich, creamy texture. The amazing sweet and tangy flavor is something that dreams are made of.
New York Cheesecake may be one of the creamiest, most flavorful types of cheesecake out there. It is prized around the world for being the gold standard of cheesecakes. It is also quite easy to make.
What is New York Cheesecake?
Before we begin, let me tell you a little bit about what New York cheesecake is. A New York style cheesecake is dense and very rich. It is perfectly creamy and quite decadent. New York cheesecake is made using sour cream or heavy cream. The addition of a cream gives the cheesecake that silky texture.
New York cheesecake is usually made with more cream cheese than most cheesecake recipes. The extra cream also adds to the rich flavor and texture of the cheesecake. Sometimes a recipe may also include extra eggs or egg yolks. All of these extra, flavorful ingredients are mixed into a very dense, ultra-rich cheesecake that will make you swoon after just one bite. New York, after all, is all about luxury and decadence!
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Ingredients
See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for all ingredients and quantities.
- Graham cracker crumbs - I like to buy the graham cracker crumbs, but I do think that the sheets of graham crackers have more flavor to them. You'll need roughly 12 graham cracker sheets for 1 ½ cups of crumbs.
- Sugar - Granulated sugar or white sugar is used to sweeten the graham cracker crust and the cheesecake.
- Butter - I like to use salted butter but unsalted is fine. You may want to put a very small pinch of salt in your graham cracker crust.
- Cream cheese - use full-fat cream cheese and make sure it's at room temperature so it is creamy and smooth when it's mixed.
- Flour - This helps thicken and bind the cheesecake ingredients together. This helps with how dense it is and helps prevents cracks.
- Eggs - The recipe was tested with large eggs so I recommend using large eggs to not mess up the cream cheese to liquid ratio.
- Sour cream - Use full-fat sour cream. It gives the cheesecake a nice tangy flavor.
- Vanilla extract - Use your favorite store-bought or homemade vanilla extract.
How to Make New York Style Cheesecake
To make a New York cheesecake recipe is very similar to most other cheesecake recipes. It all begins by making a classic graham cracker crust for the cheesecake to sit atop.
To make the crust, you simply need to mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Blend the ingredients until they resemble coarse sand and then press the mix into the bottom of a springform pan. Once the crust is in the cheesecake pan, you can store it in the fridge while you make the cheesecake batter.
Making the New York cheesecake batter is also quite easy. Start by blending the cream cheese with a paddle attachment in a stand mixer or beat with a hand mixer in a large bowl. Then add sugar and flour and mix until light, fluffy, and has no lumps.
Add each egg one at a time, blending just until the egg is mixed before adding a second egg. This will prevent your batter from baking and help make a very smooth cheesecake. You don't want to over-whip the batter at this point as that may aerate the eggs and cause your cheesecake to crack later on in the oven. Go slow, blend in each egg nicely, but do not over-mix!
Add the sour cream and vanilla to the batter. Stir and then pour the cheesecake batter over the graham cracker crust. Place the cheesecake pan in a water bath. Cooking cheesecake in a water bath will help the cheesecake cook slowly, giving it that creamy texture you crave. The water in the water bath helps the heat of the oven reach the cheesecake slowly and evenly.
TIP: While the cheesecake is baking, you want to be sure to check the water bath and add more water as needed.
Once your cheesecake is baked, it should be slightly jiggly but not liquid in the center. You do want it to shake slightly but not look wet. If you touch the center of the cheesecake and it is still liquid, it needs more time.
If you touch the center and it jiggles a little and feels like jello, it's done! Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and let it cool completely in the springform pan. Place the room temperature cheesecake in the fridge to cool even more. You do not want to remove the springform pan ring sides until the cake is completely cooled or you will risk the cheesecake cracking and falling apart. A cold cheesecake will look better, taste better and be easier to cut.
Slice your cheesecake and serve it while cold! We will go into all the delicious toppings you can add to your New York cheesecake next. However, plain New York cheesecake is pretty amazing!
Tips For Making the Best Cheesecake Recipe
- Full-fat ingredients. Cream cheese and sour cream should be full-fat. Will the cheesecake work with low fat ingredients? Yes! But we want the best NY cheesecake recipe.
- Beat the Cream Cheese by itself. This helps smooth out the cream cheese to help prevent lumps later on.
- Add any wet ingredients in small amounts. I think I've preached this in any cheesecake post I've made but if you add too much liquid into the bowl of cream cheese, it can become lumpy because the ratio of cream cheese to liquid is off and can't be properly combined. Wet ingredients include eggs, sour cream, heavy cream (if applicable), vanilla extract, etc.
- Don't overmix the cheesecake batter. Don't get too crazy mixing the sugar into the cream cheese as it creates air bubbles and makes the cheesecake rise in the oven while it's baking. Add the eggs one at a time but just mix until each egg is combined. Overmixing once the eggs are in the batter will also make the cheesecake rise while it's baking and fall once it's cooled.
- Use your favorite toppings to garnish the cheesecake. See the list below for some great ideas.
Cheesecake Toppings
Now that you have a perfect New York cheesecake, what do you want to put on top? The possibilities are endless! New York cheesecake goes with almost any flavor out there. Here are a few of our favorite cheesecake toppings:
- Blueberry sauce
- Strawberry syrup
- Caramel
- Apple pie filling
- Lemon curd
- Whipped cream
- Fresh berries
- Raspberry sauce
- Chocolate ganache
- Chocolate chips
- Chopped chocolate candy pieces
- Chocolate shavings
- Dulce de leche
- Peach pie topping
- Cherry pie topping
Let me know what kind of topping you choose for your cheesecake. I am always looking for new and exciting toppings to try!
How to Store/Freeze
To store this cheesecake, place it in an airtight container or tightly wrapped with plastic wrap for 5 to 7 days in the refrigerator.
To freeze this cheesecake recipe, let the cheesecake cool in the fridge completely. Wrap the cheesecake in two layers of plastic wrap, making sure the plastic wrap touches the cheesecake's surface. This will ensure it is sealed well. I like to then wrap it in a layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil to give it an extra layer of protection from absorbing the freezer taste.
Freeze the cheesecake for up to three months. When you are ready to enjoy the cheesecake, remove it from the freezer and place it in the fridge to thaw overnight. Slice and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
If you do not have sour cream on hand, you can use plain Greek yogurt in it’s place. Yogurt will still give the cheesecake a nice tangy taste and it has the same consistency as sour cream. You can also use heavy cream in place of sour cream. Use ⅓ cup heavy cream to replace the ½ cup sour cream in this recipe.
Every oven bakes slightly differently so cooking times can vary. However, I have found that about 1 hour and 15 minutes hours in a 350-degree oven cooks this cheesecake perfectly. You want the center of your cheesecake to be set but still jiggle slightly like jello. Begin checking the cheesecake after an hour of baking to see if it is getting close to being baked.
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New York Style Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoons butter melted
Cheesecake
- 32 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 5 large eggs
- ½ cup full-fat sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the sides of the 9-inch
- springform pan with nonstick baking spray. Wrap the sides of the pan
- with a 3 inch wide strip of parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add in the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Stir until combined.
- Add in the melted butter and stir until the crumbs are completely coated with butter.
- Press the graham cracker crumbs evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Place the crust in the refrigerator to firm up while you work on the cheesecake filling.
Cheesecake
- In a mixing bowl, add in the cream cheese. Beat with a hand mixer on medium until the cream cheese is smooth. Scrape down the bowl.
- Add in the sugar and flour. Mix on medium speed until combined.
- Add in the eggs one at a time. Beat in each egg completely before adding the next. Scrape down the bowl after incorporating each egg.
- Add in the vanilla extract and sour cream. Beat just until the mixture comes together.
- Before adding the cheesecake mixture to the pan, wrap the outside of the springform pan with 2 layers of heavy-duty tin foil. Once you’ve added the cheesecake batter to the pan, place the pan in a slightly larger pan and fill with about 1 inch of hot water. If you don’t want to use foil, you can place the springform pan in a slightly larger pan. Then place the two pans in an even larger pan and fill the largest pan with about 1 inch of hot water.
- Pour the cheesecake batter on top of the crust. Spread out evenly in the springform pan.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 65 minutes to 75 minutes. To make sure the cheesecake is done, gently give it a wiggle. If it slightly jiggles in JUST the middle like jello, then it’s done. If it jiggles all over, it needs to bake longer. The cook time may vary so always give it the jiggle test and bake longer if the center moves like wet batter instead of jello that’s set up.
- Once done, leave the cheesecake in the oven, turn the oven off, and leave the door slightly ajar until the cheesecake has cooled to room temperature.
- Once the cheesecake is at room temperature, place in the refrigerator overnight to set up.
- Once chilled, cut and serve.
- Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container or covered tightly with plastic wrap.
Notes
Nutrition
(Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.)
OMG with the strawberries, it looks so freakin good!
sibabe64 at ptd dot net
what a beautiful cheesecake!
Thank you Dina! It was so tasty. 😀