Peaches 'n Cream Cheesecake

 

I made a cheesecake this weekend.  Let me tell you about it.

Have you ever heard of Junior's in New York City?  Well, if you are ever in NYC, you definitely need to try it out.  I don't make regular trips to NYC, so I was super excited when my sister found me a cookbook of their cheesecakes.  If you like cheesecake, you need this book in your library.

Well, enough about this restaurant.  I'll just tell you about their cheesecake that I made.

Something that is unique about these cheesecakes is that they have a sponge cake crust.  This is most of the ingredients that go into a sponge cake.  Have you ever made a sponge cake?  They can be rather time consuming. 

With a sponge cake, you beat the egg yokes with sugar until they are thick, pale and form a ribbon.  I think it's a lost art.  After you beat the egg yokes, mix in the extracts, butter, and flour.

Then you beat the egg whites until they are stiff and the peaks are glossy.  Next, the egg whites are folded into the egg yoke mixture.

 

Now, the directions call for you to bake the cheesecake in a water bath.  So, you must wrap your pan in foil.  I use heavy duty foil and double wrap.  Double wrapping might be unnecessary, but soggy cheesecake is no good.  You also need to butter your pan.

Spread the sponge cake batter into the bottom of the pan and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.

To prepare the peaches, you make a sauce with apple juice, corn starch, cinnamon, and sugar.  Use frozen peaches and slice them into half-inch pieces.

Heat the apple juice, corn starch, cinnamon, and sugar until it thickens.  Then, mix in the peaches.

 

Now, for the yummy cheesecake filling.  Seriously, it's the best ever, and it's made from the simplest of ingredients.

It's very important that the cream cheese is at room temperature.  You begin by mixing the cream cheese being sure to scrape the side of the bowl a lot!  You want to be sure that there are no clumps of cream cheese.  If there are any clumps, it will cause your cheesecake to crack during baking.

When the cream cheese is smooth, mix in the sugar, vanilla, and the eggs.  Finally, add the heavy cream.  Mix this in until it is just mixed in and the batter pulls together.

The batter will be smooth and thick.

Spoon the batter into the pan, then place the peaches on top and spread them to the edge.  To prepare the water bath, make sure that you have a pan that can hold the cheesecake pan.  Fill the larger pan with warm water and place the cheesecake into the pan.  Bake at 350 for about an hour and fifteen minutes.

When the cheesecake is done, it will be golden brown on top.  Remove the cheesecake from the oven and water bath.  Set it to cool and set on a cooling rack for two hours.  The directions say to not touch or move it.  The cheesecake is rather delicate still and just needs time to set.  When it has set and cooled, refrigerate the cheesecake for several hours until it is completely cold.  When I refrigerate it, I cover it with a paper towel and saran wrap.  The paper towel will help keep the condensation from collecting on the cheesecake.  Like I said earlier, soggy cheesecake is no good.

While the cheesecake is cooling, you can make the cinnamon crumb topping.  It includes flour, lemon zest, cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter.

Mix it all together until it forms crumbs.

Bake the mixture on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes at 350 mixing it up a few times during baking.  When it is done baking, let it cool for about half an hour.

Decorate the cheesecake with the cinnamon crumb topping and several peach slices.  Whenever, I am given a piece of cheesecake, you know like the kind that you can just pick up from the store, I try not to eat the whole thing.  Maybe because I can see how many calories are in a slice.  But, I seriously scrape my plate when I eat this cheesecake, this recipe is so good.  And like I once read, calories only exist if you count them.  Don't even think about it when you try this cheesecake; you'll want to eat the entire slice that is given to you. 

I'll post the recipe soon...  patience is virtue. :)  You'll need it and energy when you make the cheesecake.  Then, you'll need to have coffee when you eat it.  Just FYI.

Update: here is the recipe for the cheesecake.