Cheese Cake

 “Say cheese” - All of us at some point have been fascinated by cheese and me, I'm no different. I use It a lot literally and liberally.

Cheese also reminds me of my hostel days in YWCA Cochin where a dear friend would sneak in cheese spread, crisps and bread and that 3 in combo would make a delightful sandwich which we would devour and skip dinner. Guess what!! I've taught my son this as a quick fix recipe when hunger strikes!!

My association with cheese cake though dates back to my days in Mphasis' transitions team where I met some beautiful people, who are still a part of my life, thankfully. This was the time I developed a taste for cheese cake and I have been in love with it ever since!!

My friend A introduced me to this mystery lady in Bangalore, Mrs M and she was a mystery lady for me cause I had just heard her voice and never seen her. So if we needed the best chocolate cake or cheese cake in Bangalore we had to call Mrs M, place an order and go to her house to pick it up!! When you arrived and rang the bell at her gate ( the closest you could get to Mrs M) a girl (not Mrs M) would come out to ask for the requirement. She will then sneak inside the house and come back after a while with a big brown box and in it would be the ever so delicious looking and tasting cheese cake. That’s it and the mystery continued….This would then go into one of the meeting rooms in office and get cut and be served in plates to all of us waiting with our spoons to just dig in and it would be pure bliss moment and a pure guilt moment right after (thanks to the calories).

Well, years have passed by just relishing the readily available cheese cake and then the day came when I decided to do my own.

So here it is a very simple way of making cheese cake. Personally I would prefer making the mini ones, its easy to serve n looks outstanding in cup cake form!! That said, I must mention that I've done both with the same ingredients and importantly the big one have been done without cracks!!

Ingredients

For crust,

Marie biscuits crushed into fine crumbs (85gm) 2 tablespoons melted butter (30gm)

For filling,

Cream cheese, softened (255gm) 2/3 cup granulated sugar (133gm) ½ teaspoon cornstarch ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 eggs

Method

1. In a bowl, add biscuit crumbs and melted butter (I used some brown sugar that gives the crust a chocolaty colour). Stir until combined and divide the mixture between cupcake molds lined with liners. And press down firmly to make crust.

2. In a bowl add in softened cream cheese and beat on a low speed until smooth. Add sugar, cornstarch, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. cornstarch is added to prevent cracking on top and with lemon juice enhances the taste of cheesecake. And beat until creamy.

Beat in the eggs one at a time until smooth. There should be no lumps.

3. Divide cream cheese mixture between the lined cupcake molds. Fill almost to the top. Bake in the oven preheated to 180°C for about 20 minutes, or until slightly risen. If you are making this is a cake tin please make for a minimum of 40 mins or until your u see the dough rise and get a light golden tinge.

4. Transfer to a wire rack and let completely cool in the pan. Cheesecakes will continue to be baked in the pan. And refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Resting overnight is the best.

Notes

There will be cracks when you bake. But after resting in refrigerator, the surface will be sunken a little and look smooth.