"A minute on the lips, forever on the hips," my friend would shake her head disapprovingly and say whenever we went out and I ordered desserts, most often, a slice of cheesecake. But I am a desserts first kinda gal. I love ice creams and cakes, I love mithais and kheers. No, I don't believe in diets. What I do believe in (apart from exercising regularly) is in limiting portion sizes. Which is why when I make things like cheesecakes, I make sure there is crowd I can feed it to. That way it can get to everyone's hips, not just mine!!



New York Cheesecake

Ingredients

for the crust

graham crackers or digestive biscuits or marie biscuits - 200 gms
butter 1oo gms
sugar - to taste, I use about a 1 1/2 tbsps
vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp

for the filling

cream cheese - 450 gms
eggs - 2, lightly beaten
caster sugar - 130 gms
sour cream - 100 gms
lemon rind or vanilla essence - 1 tsp
lemon juice - 30 ml
plain flour - 11/2 tbsp

Method:

Put the biscuits into a ziplock bag or between kitchen towels and run a rolling pin over to crush them to a fine powder. Or, if you are like me, simply process in a mixie. Melt the butter and add to the crushed biscuits, put the sugar and the essence and mix till the mixture takes on the look of wet sand.

Butter a 8 inch springform pan (I only have a 10 inch pan, so my cheesecake looks a lot flatter) and press the mixture over the base and sides of the pan and bake for 5 mins at 250 deg C; refrigerate for 30 mins.

making the filling:

Pre-heat the oven to 250 deg C.

Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature. When mixing the ingredients for the cheesecake, don't overbeat, just mix until the ingredients are incorporated. First, start by beating the cream cheese for two mins, scrape the sides. Add the sugar in two additions, beat until the sugar is properly incorporated into the cream cheese.

Again, scrape the sides and then add the lemon juice, sour cream, essence and the flour and mix for a couple of minutes. Finally add the eggs and beat until mixed.

Pour the filling into the springform pan on the cooled crust. To release any air bubbles trapped into the filling, lift the pan a few inches off the counter top and drop it (carefully) on the counter - the air bubbles will rise to the surface.

Bake the cheesecake for 10 mins at 250 deg C. Then reduce the temperature to 90 deg C and bake for about an hour or until it is juts set in the centre. One way of knowing if the cheesecake is done is to touch it in the centre, if done, it will spring back.

Leave the cake inside the oven (with the oven door open) for about half an hour. Run a knife along the edges of the pan to release the cake from the side of the pan, cover it with a large bowl or vessel and let cool on the counter top for about a couple of hours. Then, cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 5-6 hours, preferably overnight.

Cooling the cheesecake in such elaborate stages is a test of patience, I know, but this does minimise the risk of the cake cracking as it cools.



However, inspite of all these steps, if your cheesecake does crack, top it off with some strawberry sauce....now you know why mine has it :). Not only does it make the cheesecake look absolutely droolicious, it takes the taste up a few notches.

To make the strawberry sauce ( I eyeballed these, so can't give any quantities), mix strawberries, lime juice and sugar in a vessel and let it rest for about 5 mins. Then, crush the strawberries with your hands to release the juice. Simmer till the sauce starts to bubble. Mix a tablespoon of cornflour in some water and add to the sauce, cook until the sauce thickens. Cool and spread on top of the cheesecake.

Once you've eaten a homemade cheesecake, you're never gonna order it outside, I can assure you!