Best 2 Killer Cheesecake Recipes

KILLER CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Position oven rack in middle of oven; preheat oven to 350°.
• Butter a 9-inch springform pan and wrap the outside tightly with heavy-duty foil.
• Have a roasting pan ready, and put a kettle of water on to boil for the water bath.
• Make the crust: pulse the chocolate wafers in a food processor until finely ground.
• With the motor running, slowly add the butter, and process just until blended.
• Press mixture onto the bottom of the pan.
• Bake crust for 8-10 minutes, until it is set; let cool on a wire rack.
• Make the filling: melt the chocolate with the butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of about 1 1/2 inches of nearly simmering water, whisking until smooth.
• Whisk in the cocoa powder.
• Remove the bowl from the heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
• Beat the cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer, beginning on low speed and increasing to med-high speed, in a medium deep bowl until light and fluffy.
• Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Beat in the salt.
• Beat in the chocolate mixture just until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
• Add in the sour cream and vanilla; beat until smooth, scraping sides of bowl as needed.
• Transfer the filling to the springform pan.
• Set the pan in the roasting pan, place it in the oven, and carefully pour in enough boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
• Bake for 45 minutes, or until the center is almost set but still slightly jiggly; do not overbake--the cheesecake will firm as it cools.
• Remove the roasting pan from the oven and let the cheesecake cool in the water bath for 15 minutes.
• Remove the springform pan from the water bath and let cool completely on a wire rack, then remove the foil and refrigerate the cheesecake, loosely covered, until thoroughly chilled, at least 12 hours, or overnight.
• To serve--let the cheesecake stand at room temperature for 20 minutes.
• Remove the pan sides, smooth the sides of the cheesecake with a table knife, and cut into wedges.

NUTMEG CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Thickly brush a 9-inch springform pan with 1/2 of the melted butter and place in the freezer to harden, about 10 minutes. When hard, repeat to make a thick coating of butter.
• Adjust your oven rack to the lowest position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), beat the cream cheese until fluffy and very smooth. Beat in the extracts, nutmeg, sugar, and salt. One at a time, add the eggs, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Pour into the prepared pan and place the pan on a double-layer sheet of aluminum foil, with at least 3 inches of foil all around the pan. Fold the aluminum foil up around the sides of the pan.
• Fill a roasting pan large enough to hold the cake pan with hot water to a depth of about 1-inch, then lift the foil-wrapped cake into the roasting pan, keeping the foil turned up so that it prevents water from overflowing or seeping into the cake. The foil should not be closed over the top of the cake. Be careful not to tear any holes in the foil!
• Bake until the top of the cake is golden brown and dry to the touch, though still a bit soft in the center, about 1 1/2 hours. It should "shimmy" a bit when you shake the pan; it will firm up more as it cools.
• Remove the pan from the water bath, remove the foil, and let cool at room temperature 15 minutes. Refrigerate, uncovered, 2 hours before removing the cake from the pan.
• To remove the cake from the pan, first remove the sides. Cover the surface with plastic wrap. Place a large plate over the cake, then flip the cake over and onto the plate, tapping if necessary to help the cake come away from the pan bottom. If tapping doesn't do the trick, try a blow torch or stove burner to warm the bottom of the pan to loosen it.
• Remove the pan bottom and evenly sprinkle the exposed surface with graham cracker crumbs. Place a serving plate over the crumbs and flip the cake again so that the crumbs form the bottom crust and the top is covered with plastic. Refrigerate, lightly covered, at least 3 hours or overnight before serving.