From: http://www.streetdirectory.com/food_editorials/snacks/cheese/professional_secrets_for_creating_mouthwatering_cheesecake.html
Dense and rich, light and fluffy or silky smooth, cheesecake is one of America's
favorite desserts. Because the basic recipe can have so many variations, the
chef who bakes this self-indulgent treat can get as creative as s/he wants.
Plain cheesecake is the perfect canvas for developing elegant desserts that send
your taste buds soaring.
However, as some culinary school graduates and
professional chefs will tell you, there are definite dos and don'ts to making
mouthwatering cheesecake. Let's find out one of the most failsafe methods taught
in cooking schools for creating this to-die-for dessert.
Most Popular
Ingredients
Since 1872, we've enjoyed cream cheese. Made from cream and
cow's milk, this dense, smooth, unripened cheese was designed to be rich and
spreadable. Culinary school students can quickly learn that cream cheese is the
most popular ingredient in cheesecake. It is not, however, the only foundational
ingredient. Many recipes include ricotta cheese or cottage cheese in place of or
in addition to cream cheese. It's the flavor and consistency of cream cheese
that make it the overwhelming first choice by those who make and those who
consume cheesecake.
The most frequently found variety of cheesecake seen
in restaurants is plain cheesecake topped with fruit or sauce. This allows the
chef to create one type of cheesecake yet still offer options to guests by
varying the toppings. Strawberries, blueberries and chocolate sauce are by far
the three most popular.
Preventing Lumpy Batter
When you think of
culinary excellence, a city that often comes to mind is Miami. Culinary school
graduates who enter the workforce in this food-oriented town quickly find there
are certain professional secrets to making cheesecake that is as smooth as
glass. Lumpy batter is to be avoided at all costs.
The biggest
contributor to lumpy batter is moisture. When too much moisture collects in your
filling, it tends to bind ingredients together, causing lumps. To alleviate
this, add ingredients separately and blend well in between each
addition.
Start with room temperature cream cheese and blend it in a
mixer until it is creamy and smooth. Add eggs one at a time then allow time for
each egg to incorporate fully into the batter before adding the next. This rule
applies to all liquids including cream or liquid or semi-liquid fillings such as
pumpkin, chocolate or caramel sauce; bananas; amaretto; lemon or lime juice;
etc. Lastly, some cooking school instructors will recommend scraping the mixing
bowl frequently as a final measure to preventing lumps.
Avoiding
Cracks
A cracked surface to cheesecake is not only unattractive, but it
can also signify that your cheesecake is going to be dry. Too much air added too
quickly, too much moisture and too high an oven temperature are the three
primary reasons cheesecakes crack.
When too much air is incorporated
into the batter too quickly (usually from setting your mixer on medium-high or
high), it gets trapped within the moisture. Once the cheesecake begins to bake,
the moisture is released and rises to the surface. As the air expands in the
heat of the oven, it usually causes a cracked surface.
Tapping the
bottom of your filled pan on the countertop is a good way to release some of the
air from within the batter. It will not release all the air, however.
To
counteract excess moisture and air, blend your batter on low or medium-low
speed. Also, even if your recipe doesn't call for it, add one to two
tablespoonfuls of flour. Lastly, bake your cheesecakes in a water bath. Fill the
exterior pan until hot water reaches halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan.
This helps keep moisture on the outside of the cheesecake (rather than the
inside) and also regulates the temperature of the oven, so it doesn't get too
hot.
The next time you want to impress your family or guests, use these
tips to create a cheesecake that delivers a beautiful presentation as well as
luscious taste!
