A 'famous' cheesecake, back in the day, was the one Phil Howard made at The Square. In his book he says that warming the base in a 95C oven for five minutes "will melt all the butter again and allow it to re-set in a single waterproof layer - thereby preventing the crumbs becoming soggy when the cheesecake mix is added". I don't know if this is just wishful thinking on his part, but the surface does look a little more 'glassy' afterwards.
The cheesecake is also cooked at 95C until set, which I much prefer to faffing around with water baths. :)
I think cooking the base and browning the butter basically do the same thing by removing any excess moisture from the butter to better protect the base from sogginess, I prefer browning the butter as you get the lovely toasty flavour as well!
I did do some tests baked really low and slow but I'm too impatient to bake them realllly low and didn't really mind the water bath in the end 😊
Great inspirational writeup and great explanation of the technological role of the different ingredients. Just one question, when you leave the cheesecake to cool in the water bath after baking, do you still keep it in the oven?
Re: why cook the base.
A 'famous' cheesecake, back in the day, was the one Phil Howard made at The Square. In his book he says that warming the base in a 95C oven for five minutes "will melt all the butter again and allow it to re-set in a single waterproof layer - thereby preventing the crumbs becoming soggy when the cheesecake mix is added". I don't know if this is just wishful thinking on his part, but the surface does look a little more 'glassy' afterwards.
The cheesecake is also cooked at 95C until set, which I much prefer to faffing around with water baths. :)
I think cooking the base and browning the butter basically do the same thing by removing any excess moisture from the butter to better protect the base from sogginess, I prefer browning the butter as you get the lovely toasty flavour as well!
I did do some tests baked really low and slow but I'm too impatient to bake them realllly low and didn't really mind the water bath in the end 😊
Is there a substitute for corn flour, such as rice flour or corn starch?
Yes, cornflour is just what cornstarch is called here in the uk, they’re the same thing 😌
Definitely my project for this weekend- Thank you so much for such detailed instructions and information Sophie. So delicious.
Do I need to press the base down with a glass (or similar)? Or is smoothing with spatula enough?
I just used a spoon but you can use a glass if you find it easier! I'm not too fussy about how neat the base is. Hope you like it!
Great inspirational writeup and great explanation of the technological role of the different ingredients. Just one question, when you leave the cheesecake to cool in the water bath after baking, do you still keep it in the oven?
Thanks again, we love your work.
Thank you! No it doesn’t need to be in the oven to cool 😊
Is there a way tp print the recipe and not ehe rest of the information? Thanks