Deluxe Cheesecake Recipe (2024)

I have a question: The recipe calls for 40 ounces of cream cheese. I assume the cream cheese is "Philadelphia" or similar little bricks. These commercial cheeses contain carrageenan or similar thickeners. We prefer to use locally-made cream cheese that contain no fillers— only milk and (guessing) a pinch of salt. Will using the better product affect the recipe?

The recipe in the NYT cookbook specifies 1 1/2 hours of baking at 200 degrees, not 1 hour as in this recipe. Yesterday I printed the recipe off this website because I was baking the cake at someone else's house and it was easier than bringing my cookbook along. I baked the cake for an hour at 200 rather than an hour and a half. When I cut into the cooled cake the inside was runny like a soft custard. The baking time is a flaw in the online instructions, the recipe is the same otherwise.

What memories! My mother started making this cheesecake in the late 1960s, and then I started helping her. We always laughed at the cracks in the final cake, calling them chasms, but could never figure out how to get rid of them. One way I've lately found to minimize or eliminate them is to beat for 1 minute just the cream cheese and then after each egg addition (using a timer!). Also, I have reduced the sugar to 1.5 cups. This cheesecake always gets fabulous reviews from eaters.

I found that by cutting a slice in half I was able to reduce the calorie count to 450! :)

Mary Ellen, why mention a secret ingredient if you're not going to share it?

This was always a keeper (which I did from day 1), but may we puh-LEEZ also have Craig Claiborne's unforgettable best-ever Ginger Cheesecake (12/4/77) on the site? The crust is made with gingersnaps and chocolate wafer crumbs, and the batter contains--if memory serves--ground ginger, chopped candied ginger, and even some grated fresh ginger. It's too good not to be easily available!

Made this for the first time, a few observations: bottom of mixing bowl had some clumps of cream cheese even though I stopped mixer and scraped - focus on bottom of bowl
I ran out of white sugar and used about half brown sugar at equal substitution by volume, no problem
I used double the lemon zest
I had to add a bit of water to make dough sticky enough to press into pan. For bottom I put a pile of dough in middle, covered with plastic, and rolled it - worked great.

I use only 1cup of sugar and I double the lemon rind. One time I used half cream cheese and half ricotta because that' what I had and I liked it as well.

I’m noticing some are interpreting the cooking time as one hour at 200, but that is not what the recipe says. *8-10min at 475*60 minutes after that at 200*30 minutes after that with the oven off and the door slightly ajar.That’s a total of 1h40m. I followed the recipe as written, and it was perfect.

This is a beautiful cheesecake! Impressive to behold and the taste does not disappoint. I have to agree that the sugar in the crust should read 1/4 cup. To get the dough placed on the sides of the pan, I cut thin slices from the dough ball and placed them side by side around the pan. I also increased the time at high temp slightly to 12 minutes and increased the temp for the long slow bake to 225 to start and gradually reduced it to 210. With those adjustments, it was done in the allotted time.

This is a poor recipe, because it does not yield a firm cheesecake. And it was a dishonest recipe, because the recipe does not match the NYT video. The video shows the dough going up to the top rim of the springform pan and the filling poured only up to 2/3 from the base. The pan is put on a cookie sheet for baking. None of these details are in the recipe. My filling came up to the rim, and the cake did not set even after 2 hours at 200 F. Do not follow this recipe.

Doubled the recipe to make 2 cakes for a party. Sam's video showing how to apply dough to pan was very helpful. Recipe doubled perfectly. Delicious. Guests were "wowed" by perfect look and luscious taste. They thought for sure cakes came from a fancy bakery. Make this now. Lots of reward for not-to-much effort. There's a reason it's a classic.

This is the best cheesecake ever. I baked it after it was first published in the NYTimes, and while I've baked others, I always return to this one.

Excellent cheesecake. Recommend you watch Sam Sifton's video first and note the slight variations he does when preparing it. Makes it easier.

Super wonderful. Used one cup of sugar and followed instruction for the crust. The bottom did not look beautiful after the first bake but this was a knock out cheese cake! Lovely served with slightly heated frozen berries!

I got nervous after reading the comments about it not being set and requiring two hours of baking time. I didn’t think it was set at the hour mark, so I left it in the oven for another 30 minutes at 200 instead of turning off the oven and opening the door as the directions specify. I ended up with a cracked cheesecake. Dang it!! Just trust the directions. Still tastes good at least!

Used Trader Joe’s hot cocoa cream cheese for this and left out the lemon zest. Absolutely delicious. However agree that it needs more baking time to set. I did the 10 mins at 475, then 90 minutes at 200 and the 30 with door open. Probably needed more like 2 hours at 200 to fully set. But still tasted amazing!

Great recipe! Cooked at 475 as directed than 200 for 75 minutes with oven door closed.Used all of the filling even though it filled above side crust. Came out beautifully. 9” spring form pan.

Bake 450 or less? Top will burn during first bake. Crust is annoying. Make bit more?

I believe sugar added to crusts like these are just for browning, not to sweeten. I’ve tried it with the commenters recommended 1/4 cup and found it too sweet. I say stick to the recipe and you should be golden. :)

We are NYT cooking fans from Germany :-). Could someone help us out, what exactly is meant with Vanilla? In Germany we normally use Vanilla sugar or fresh vanilla, but in this case, are those a special kind of fluid? Thanks a lot for helping out. :-)

It seems like there isn't enough dough for the crust, but there is. If you use a small offset spatula (say a 4.5 inch), it is easy to smear and spread the dough around the bottom and sides evenly. I find that 2" up the sides isn't nearly enough, 2 1/4" is better. At 200 degrees, my cheesecake takes 1.5 to 2 hours to set. It might have something to do with the fact that I use a countertop oven to bake the cake. A smaller oven holds less residual heat? In any case, delicious and worth the effort.

I have made this incredible cheesecake 4 times, now, and each time is excellent. Using less sugar, and substituting in some ricotta (drained!) for the cream cheese was a particular winner. This is my go-to recipe (even though I tweaked it a tad).

a quick question: i want to cut this recipe in half, would that affect the cooking time/any other aspect of the recipe?

Came out way beyond expectations, had that classic cheesecake taste and texture you crave when thinking about cream cheese. Couple of tricky parts in the prep that only make sense when seeing the videoThe crust is more like a pie dough than a crumble. I whipped in too much air into the mix, used whisk attachment instead of paddle. It rose like a soufflé and deflated down to the right size upon cooling but leaving big cracks in the top. Texture was still spot on surprisingly though.

Bake 1 1/2 hr!

Too eggy, not sweet enough, would change these aspects in the next batch.

Probably should switch to creamy version on nytimes cooking.This time used 4 packs of cream cheese and 4 eggs.Still very dense and almost crumbly.Crust is very difficult to work with and doesn’t brown up on sides.

How far in advance can this be baked and kept in refrigerator before serving? Please respond quickly.