Fresh Wild Berry Cheesecake

Intro: Fresh Wild Berry Cheesecake

A creamy New York style cheesecake topped with fresh blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Drizzled with a blueberry coulis.

STEP 1: The Equipment

1. A stand mixer (such as a Kitchen Aide)
2. A scale
3. 2 small pots
4. 1 large pot
5. One 2" hotel pan
6. Two 8" circle cake pans
7. 5 medium mixing bowls
8. Parchment paper
9. Four 8" cardboard circles
10. Cooking utensils (such as, wooden spoon, measuring spoons/cups)

STEP 2: The Ingredients

THIS RECIPE YIELDS TWO 8" CHEESECAKES

Graham Cracker Crust:

10 oz of crushed graham crackers
2 oz butter
4 oz sugar

Cheesecake filling:

36 oz Cream Cheese
4 ea. Eggs
10 oz sugar
3 Tbsp. Vanilla extract

Wild Berry Mix:

6 oz fresh blackberries
6 oz fresh blueberries
6 oz fresh raspberries
1 cup water
1 cup sugar

Blueberry Coulis:

8 oz fresh blueberries
6 oz water
6 oz sugar
1 tsp. butter

STEP 3: The Prep

Measure out all ingredients accurately.
Wash, drain, and pat dry berries.

STEP 4: The Pans

Prep the pans by spraying with non-stick pan spray and cover with parchment paper circle.

STEP 5: The Crust

1. Place crushed graham crackers into a clean bowl
2. Mix sugar into crushed graham crackers
3. Melt butter in small pot
4. Let cool until cool to the touch, pour over graham crackers and sugar
5. Mix well with wooden spoon
6. Pour into the prep'd 8” cheesecake pan
7. Pack evenly into the bottom of the pan
8. Bake for 5 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit to set the crust

STEP 6: The Filling

1. Add cream cheese into a mixer, mix on low until it is creamy
2. Next slowly add the sugar, mix until completely incorporated
3. Add one egg at a time, wait until each egg has been fully incorporated
4. Add the vanilla extract
'SCRAPE THE SIDES OF THE BOWL OFTEN'
'ONLY MIX ON LOW TO AVOID TOO MUCH AERATION'

STEP 7: Filling and Baking the Cakes

1. Pour smooth fully incorporated filling into two 8" cheesecake pans over the baked crust, lightly tap cakes on table to remove all air bubbles
2. Place each cheesecake pan into a 2” hotel pan, fill pan with water halfway up hotel pan
3. Place in the oven and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 ½ hours or until the cake is stiff around the edges and jiggles in the middle
4. Transfer the cheesecake to the refrigerator and let rest for 30 minutes or overnight.

STEP 8: Removing the Cakes

1. Using a paring knife and in a single cut go around the edge of the cheesecake to release it from the pan, DO NOT MOVE THE KNIFE UP AND DOWN, gently slide knife around inside edge of the pan
2. In a large pot, boil enough water to be able to dip the bottom of the pans into the pot. Once boiling, dip the bottoms of the pans in the water to slightly melt the butter, this takes no more than 25 seconds
3. Place an 8" parchment paper circle then cardboard circle on top of each of the cheesecakes and flip the pan
4. Once cake is out take another 8” cardboard circle and place on the crust of each cake, flip back to top side of the cake

STEP 9: The Coulis (Puree)

1. Place blueberries in a food processor (or blender) and process until all blueberries are broken down
2. Add water a little at a time until the mixture is slightly thinned out but not watery
3. Add sugar to taste
4. Place into pot and onto the stove
5. Reduce for 2 minutes, this mixture should coat the back of a spoon
6. Add butter for a rich flavor, this step can be skipped
7. Cool in the refrigerator until chilled (about 20 minutes)

STEP 10: The Berries

1. Place berries in the freezer until ready to use
2. In small pot bring water to a boil
3. Add sugar to the water and cook until sugar is dissolved
4. Cool solution until chilled
5. Pour solution over the cold berries
6. Let berries soak up the simple syrup for 5 minutes

STEP 11: The Assembly

1. Place cheesecakes on serving plates
2. Pour blueberry coulis over cakes
3. Top with berries
4. Slice, serve, enjoy!

Comments

[dunehead]

Two words aluminum foil. Just cover a springform pan on the outside with aluminum foil and use the water bath. I've been doing this for years and it works fine. Sounds like a great recipe and I'll give it a try

[help.wanted]

Thank you for much for the recipe! Im a noob at cooking, but i think i'm gonna give this a try for my mom's birthday. I dont quite understand the water bath??

[Brandon121233]

Why don't you try using a spring-form pan, it would make getting the cheesecake out 10 times easier

[zachninme]

Because, they leak.

[Oscelot]

and they're expensive.

[Brandon121233]

??? Who told you that? Maybe you should get a nicer one, cause mine works perfectly.

[zachninme]

Firsthand experience, along with every semi-scientific book that I've read that talks about cheesecakes.

[smokehill]

I am puzzled about how leakage could possibly be a problem. With any kind of a crust, particularly one that has been "set," unless the batter is the consistency of water, I wouldn't think it could leak. I made many dozens of cheesecakes with both cheap & good-quality springform pans, and never had a leak. I believe mine may have been a thicker batter. Unfortunately I lost the recipe 20 yrs ago and have been too disappointed with other recipes, so I don't cook cheesecake anymore. Mine had cream cheese and sour cream both, and required confectioner's (powdered) sugar. The cooking was two-stage, at different temps, and it was difficult to get the mix to "peak" properly unless you started with cream cheese & eggs that were already room temperature. One alteration I discovered turned out to be popular: I chopped up fresh orange peel into tiny little pieces and mixed it in with the batter just before it went into the oven. Not a whole peel -- about a third or so, just enough to add a few little flavor bursts, not overpowering the basic cheesecake taste. I like the sound of this topping. I usually just put a spoonful of topping next to the piece of cheesecake when I served it, so you could eat a few bites without it if you chose. I like to get my first taste of cheesecake "uncluttered," so I can tell just how good it really is. This truly is an excellent instructable -- it should be used as an example, particularly for cooking instructions.

[rupamagic]

Hey Smokehill, the leaking they refer to is indeed water in, not filling out. You might want to check out my cheese cake instructable, I use a bit of sour cream in mine and I like to use lemon zest, which may give you a similar zing to your orange peel. I will have to use orange zest next time to see if it does it for me the way lemon does. I am a citrus lover, so I am sure it will. I'm also going to try this recipe, always on the lookout for ways to improve my own. Great pics and detailed instructions, well done CCDBS!

[smokehill]

Many thanks !!! Yours is the first one I've seen that I believe is VERY close to the one I had. Aside from the 2-stage cooking, it could be exactly the same ... and I doubt that the 2 stages are that essential. I know the CAREFUL cooling and handling is very important, though. I also found out, the hard way, that you can't just double the ingredients, pour the result into two pans, and stick them in the oven. It was edible, but "not right." The old-time cooks I mentioned it to just laughed - they thought everyone knew that already. Not me, obviously. The original recipe I got did have lemon zest, too -- changing to (or adding) orange zest was my own little perversion. Not knowing about scrapers, I just chopped up the peel as tiny as I could with a paring knife. I never was a cook, and mostly ate out of cans, and this cheesecake was one of the only things I ever liked well enough to actually do myself. Again, thanks ! I now must buy a springform pan and give your recipe a try.

[NapoleanDynamite]

*DROOL* That looks so good... I had a dream about cheesecake last night. =D Great instructable.

[alebb]

UAU! MARAVILHOSO!

[Sharku]

great recipe! a must try i if could i'd eat the whole thing....

[Shifrin]

P-A-R-A-D-I-S-E...

[mrwizard4570]

I think by leak they mean water leaking into the pan....ie:the water bath

[cry_wolf]

You are officially the King of Chessecakes. Easy to make, and EXTREMELY well presented. That's something i dont find done very well with food on instructables. You get a A+ =D

[campa44]

Ohh, hes not the king of cheese cakes I am. I got my hands on the only copy of the Blackstone Cheesecake, voted the best cheesecake ever.

[James (pseudo-geek)]

oooooooooooooooooo

[James (pseudo-geek)]

/drool

[!Andrew_Modder!]

w8 is this more of a firm (you could hold it in your hand) or creamy 'slight pudding like'?