small-ish blueberry cheesecake
When I was small, my dad worked at a high end restaurant and worked late nights. I would anticipate him coming home because if I were lucky, there would be an initialed styrofoam clam shell (iykyk) with a huge slice of cheesecake inside, adorned with that wonderful gelatinous strawberry topping. Restaurant perks, am I right? It was a privilege to get to enjoy the spoils of his job way past my bedtime. It’s also amazing that I didn’t need any real dental work until this year.
My mom found this recipe in a magazine many years ago and it has been her go-to for special occasions ever since. Since I’m rarely feeding a crowd, I’ve scaled it down to a cheesecake that is more appropriate for two people. You’ll need a 7 inch Springform pan for this recipe (I think a 6 inch would work too), but if you’re feeding a crowd (9 inch pan), just increase all of the ingredients by a third and add a few minutes to the bake time. The water bath works like a charm and you always get a crack-free, super smooth, velvety cheesecake every time. This is my forever go-to.
small-ish cheesecake
yield: one 7 inch cheesecake, about 6 servings (or 8 small ones)
7 sheets (109 g) graham crackers
4 Tb. (57 g) melted butter
1 Tb. (15 g) sugar
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1 liter boiling water
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2- 8 oz. packages (452 g) cream cheese, room temperature
⅔ cup (133 g) sugar
zest of half a lemon (optional but recommended)
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tb. (45 g) sour cream or yogurt
In a zip top bag or a food processor, crush graham crackers until no large pieces remain. The crackers should be a fairly fine consistency, but not powdery. Add sugar and pulse a few times to combine (or if crushing in a bag, transfer to a small bowl at this point and stir sugar in). Add all of the melted butter and mix until it looks like gravel. You should be able to squeeze some of it together and have it stick together as a clump. If it doesn’t, add some additional melted butter as needed, 1 Tb at a time. Dump into your 7” springform pan and shimmy the pan so the stuff evens out on the bottom. Gently press into the bottom, making sure to leave enough for the sides. Press the mixture up the sides a small amount, so that you have a little bit of a lip.
Cut two pieces of heavy duty foil that will be large enough to fold up the sides of the pan. Place both sheets on top of each other on your counter and place the springform pan on top. Wrap the foil gently up the sides of the pan on all sides, making sure not to tear it in the process. Place your foil-wrapped pan into an empty 9x13” pan with high sides. Set aside.
Boil 1 liter of water and preheat oven to 325 F.
In a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer), put both bricks of cream cheese into your mixing bowl. Mix with the paddle attachment until the cream cheese looks smooth and free of lumps. Add the sugar (and zest if using) and mix until well combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl down after each egg, then add vanilla. Add the sour cream or yogurt and mix until homogeneous. You may have some small lumps of cream cheese but this is okay. Try to smash large lumps on the side of your bowl with a spatula. Pour mixture over your prepared crust and smooth out the top.
Once your oven reaches 325, pour the boiling water into the 9x13 pan around the cheesecake until the water reaches no more than halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Keep in mind: the springform is not completely full, so we don’t need the water halfway up the sides of the pan. Be careful not to get any water inside the foil- we don’t want any leakage! Carefully transfer your pan into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until the sides of the cake are set but the center is still jiggly. Be careful not to splash any water into the cheesecake- shake the springform gingerly. At this point, turn your oven off, leaving the pan inside and set the door ajar for another 30 minutes. The residual heat will continue to gently bake the cheesecake the rest of the way, resulting in a super smooth, crack-free cheesecake. Perfection!
Once the 30 minutes is up, remove the cheesecake from the water bath and allow to cool on your counter until it reaches room temperature (a couple of hours) and transfer to your refrigerator to set up completely. I always do this overnight, which I would recommend. (My last time around I didn’t have time to let it completely cool on the counter and I put it into the fridge while still warm- it was fine.) Proceed to make your blueberry topping right away or wait until the next day.
This will last in the fridge for a few days, but around 3-4 days it starts to harden. Be sure to cover any exposed (cut) sides with parchment or plastic wrap to prevent this and to preserve the flavor.
blueberry topping
You could use any frozen fruit here. I had bleubs on hand so that’s what I used, plus they’re small enough to cover lots of surface area easily.
2 cups (340 g) frozen blueberries (I used wild blueberries)
1 Tb. (7 g) tapioca starch
1 Tb. (15 g) lemon juice
1 Tb. (15 g) sugar
pinch of salt
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook until you see the starch has turned from a milkier blue to a dark, rich blue and the sauce has thickened somewhat. You can use the topping while still warm or completely cooled: Pour over your cheesecake (still in the pan) while topping is slightly warm and let the topping set up in the fridge, or spoon onto individual slices as desired while still warm. We love a temperature contrast. You can also transfer it to a container to cool in the fridge and serve when ready. If you have leftover topping, I love adding it to yogurt or oatmeal.
