Best Classic Cheesecake

Cheesecake is one of those desserts that’s perfectly classic… and gets a bad rap for being impossibly difficult to make. We get it—from making a graham cracker crust from scratch to setting up a water bath, it can seem pretty involved and confusing. But we’re here to tell you: Involved doesn’t have to mean difficult! Here, we’re laying out all the tips and tricks you’ll need to become a cheesecake expert—your birthday parties and holiday dessert spreads won’t know what hit 'em.

What People Are Saying:
“Without question one of the most perfect cheesecakes I've ever tasted. The texture is exactly what you want it to be: creamy and decadent, without being too heavy. Will be making this one forever.” - jsa1599

How To Make Classic Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS

• Graham Crackers Crust: The crust is everyone’s favorite part, and it’s super-simple to make—just finely crushed cookies, melted butter, a little sugar, and salt mixed together and pressed into a springform pan, then baked for 12 to 15 minutes. That's it! Want to swap out the grahams for something else? Go for it. Try Nilla wafers, shortbread cookies, gingersnaps, Oreos... you’ll need about 2 cups crushed of whatever cookie you want to use.
• Granulated Sugar: I'm using granulated sugar here both for the crust and the filling. It is finer and easier to avoid clumps with that brown sugar, and doesn’t have that notable molasses flavor. With this classic cheesecake, we really just want a nice sweet, lightly cheesy filling that is overpowered by any other strong flavors.
• Cream Cheese: This is where the famous dish gets its name. Cream cheese provides the base for the creamy, cheesy—go figure—filling. While cream cheese on its own is fairly heavy, when aerated with sugar and folded into eggs and sour cream, it takes on that light, airy texture we associate with a good cheesecake.
• Eggs: Beating eggs into the filling does a couple of really important things. For one, they provide moisture and structure to the filling that helps it achieve that classic moist, fluffy texture. For another, by whipping air into the eggs as they are beaten into the filling, the batter itself becomes aerated, meaning you get a light and lifted cheesecake as opposed to a denser cake.
• Sour Cream: Sour cream is going to act much in the same way as the eggs in this recipe. While it isn’t a binder like the eggs, sour cream will add a lot of lightness to the filling and help get that airy texture. It will also add a little bit of acid, which compliments the creamy, slightly savory notes of the cream cheese.
• All-Purpose Flour: Flour, and not much of it, goes a long way to help bind the filling together. While we are obviously looking for a super light filling, it still needs to hold together.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Start your crust off by prepping your space. Preheat the oven and grease a springform pan with cooking spray, so that when it is removed your crust doesn’t pull and crumble.

Then, in a large bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar, and salt and mix until combined into a wet sand like consistency. Press this graham cracker mixture into the bottom of the greased pan and up and around the sides so there are no gaps and the thickness is as even as possible to ensure there are no leaks and the crust bakes evenly.

Place the pan into the heated oven and bake the crust for 12 to 15 minutes, until it becomes fragrant and the edges start to darken in color. Then remove the crust from the heat and transfer it onto a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.

Start the cheesecake filling by beating together the cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl, using a handheld or stand mixer, until the mixture is smooth and without any lumps. Then, one at a time, add the eggs, continuing to beat the mixture as you do, until the mixture is again smooth and homogenous. Once here, fold in the sour cream and vanilla extract before adding in the flour and salt and continuing to beat until the mixture is once again smooth and combined. Take care not to overmix here. You are just looking for a smooth consistent filling. Pour this mixture into the crust.

Here comes the fun part: the water bath. Trust me, it’s much less intimidating than it is made out to be. Simply wrap the bottom of the springform pan in foil and place it inside a large roasting pan inside of the oven. Carefully pour water into the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the springform pan. That’s it. That’s the dreaded water bath.

Close the oven door and bake the cheesecake for around 1 hour and 30 minutes, until the center of the cake jiggles slightly. Turn the oven off and open the door, but don’t take the cheesecake out. It is important to let it cool slowly inside the still hot oven to avoid cracking. Have patience—you’ll need even more later—this cooling process should take about 1 hour.

Once the cheesecake has cooled for an hour, remove it from the oven and take off the foil. Pop the cheesecake, still in springform pan, into the refrigerator and allow it to chill for at least 5 hours and up to overnight before removing the springform, cutting, and serving. Trust me, it's worth the wait!

The full list of ingredients and instructions can be found in the recipe below.

Recipe Tips

• Don't overmix the filling. Beating your filling 'til just combined makes sure it won’t fluff up and then fall in the oven while baking.
• Take care not to cook your cheesecake for too long. You're looking for the center to still be slightly jiggly before you turn your oven off and prop it open to cool.
• Let your cheesecake cool slowly. Speaking of propping your oven door open, it’s the best way to guarantee your cheesecake will cool gradually, thus avoiding any cracks.
• Don't skip the water bath. The main, unavoidable trick to avoiding all the cheesecake pitfalls is a water bath. It provides moisture and temperature control to the oven, which guarantees no dark spots on top, a light and creamy texture, and best of all, no cracking. Here’s how you do it: Wrap the bottom and sides of your springform pan in two layers of foil, place it into a larger roasting pan, then put the whole thing into your oven. With the pan in the oven, carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan (use a gooseneck kettle if you’ve got one).

Cheesecake Toppings

Even if you do everything correctly, there’s still a chance of cracking. Don’t fret! It happens to the best of us. Your cheesecake will still be delicious, and now you’ve got a great excuse to have some fun with it. Top it with your favorite jam, fresh berries, or a lemon curd for a bright citrusy topping, or go a little sexier with a chocolate ganache or caramel. The sky’s the limit, so get creative.

Storage

After your cheesecake has cooled down in the oven with the door propped open for about an hour, take it out of the roasting pan and unwrap the foil. Let it sit at room temperature for another hour to cool down further to room temp, then refrigerate it (uncovered, and still in the springform pan) for at least 5 hours. Serve right away, or wrap the top in plastic wrap and keep it refrigerated for up to 5 days.