New York Cheesecake

Father's day is just around the corner. Lets celebrate Father's Day with this elegant and super tasty New York Cheesecake topped with summer's best glazed mixed berries! It has heavy cream in the cream cheese batter for richer taste and bit dense texture. A slightly sweet sour cream is topped over hot baked cheesecake and baked again until sour cream topping is set. The secrets to the best New York Cheesecake that doesn’t crack are room temperature ingredients, using spring form pan, proper mixing technique, water bath method, chilling completely before removing form the pan and last but not least patience!

You can serve cheesecake as is or decorate with just fresh berries or glazed berries for more color and flavor! Glazed mixed berry is perfectly balanced of tartness and sweetness.  It's better to let it set at least 3 hours after placing glazed berry topping. Traditionally cheesecake has graham cracker crust. I have been using mostly either gluten free crust or nut crust for all my cheesecakes recipes; they taste amazing! Sharing three types of crust and use as per choice. Lets get baking. 

Ingredients~
For the graham cracker crust~
1 1/4 cups finely ground graham crackers
2 tbsp melted unsalted butter
1 tbsp. milk

For the oat crust~

1/2 cup oat flour

1 tsp. tapioca flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tbsp salted butter

For the nut crust~
2 cups ground almonds
2 tbsp tapioca flour
1/8 cup sugar
1/8 cup melted butter
1 tbsp milk

For the glazed mixed berry topping~

4-6 oz. each pack of black berry, blue berry and raspberry

1/8 cup sugar or as per taste

1/8 cup water

For the filling~
3- 8 oz. cream cheese(at room temperature)
1/2 cup heavy cream( at room temperature)
3/4 cup sour cream( at room temperature)
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp tapioca flour
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
3 eggs( at room temperature)

For the sour cream topping~

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract  

Method~
For the graham cracker crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a mixing bowl combine graham crackers, milk and butter until evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture over bottom of a parchment lined 8-inch round or 7 inch heart shaped spring-form pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

For the nut crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat entire 8 inch spring form pan with oil or butter. In a mixing bowl combine all crust ingredients until evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture over bottom of a parchment lined 8-inch round spring-form pan. Wrap bottom and outside of the pan with heavy duty aluminium foil. Bake for 10 minutes.

For the oat crust, preheat the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit. In a large bowl beat the melted butter and sugar first then add in egg, one at a time. In a separate bowl sift the oat flour, tapioca flour and baking powder, then gently fold in the egg mixture until just combined. Do not over mix! Pour the mixture into the parchment lined 8-inch round or 7 inch heart shaped spring-form pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

For the filling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Take a 13 x 9 inch roasting pan with 3 cups of water. Place the roasting pan in the oven while preheating. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. gradually add tapioca flour,  heavy cream and sour cream until fluffy. Add vanilla extract. Add one egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Do not over mix! Pour filling over the baked crust. Smooth the top with a spatula. Tap 3-4 times on the counter to eliminate air bubbles. Place the cheesecake in the roasting pan. Make sure it reaches halfway up the sides of the foil wrapped spring form pan. Bake for 70-80 minutes until top sets. 

Mix sour cream with sugar and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Top cake with the sour cream mixture and spread it lightly with a spatula.  Bake again until topping is set, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave cheesecake in the oven for one hour with the door closed. Remove from the oven and let it cool in the room temperature; then refrigerate for 2 hours or more until completely chilled.

In the mean time, mix together sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Boil for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat. Fold in the mixed berries until well coated. Let it cool completely. Placed the glazed berried on top as you like and refrigerate at least for 3 hours or more. Slice with a knife and clean with a wet kitchen paper towel between each slice. Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful dads around the globe. Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!!