Melanie Underwood - Making artisan cheesecake: expert techniques for creating your own creative and classic recipes

With Making Artisan Cheesecake, author and chef-instructor Melanie Underwood presents 80 enticing recipes for everyones favorite dessert. In this wide-ranging, yet clearly presented collection, Underwood shows us just how creative cheesecakes can be with everything from a flan-inspired Brazilian cheesecake to a crme brle cheesecake to gluten-free and vegan cheesecakes. This cookbooks inspiring flavors and accessible techniques blow the cheesecake category wide open!

CHERYL STERNMAN RULE, author, Yogurt Culture

EXPERT TECHNIQUES FOR CLASSIC AND CREATIVE RECIPES

MELANIE UNDERWOOD

2015 by Quarry Books

First published in the United States of America in 2015 by

Quarry Books, a member of

Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.

100 Cummings Center

Suite 406-L

Beverly, Massachusetts 01915-6101

Telephone: (978) 282-9590

Fax: (978) 283-2742

www.quarrybooks.com

Visit www.QuarrySPOON.com and help us celebrate food and culture one spoonful at a time!

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright owners. All images in this book have been reproduced with the knowledge and prior consent of the artists concerned, and no responsibility is accepted by the producer, publisher, or printer for any infringement of copyright or otherwise, arising from the contents of this publication. Every effort has been made to ensure that credits accurately comply with information supplied. We apologize for any inaccuracies that may have occurred and will resolve inaccurate or missing information in a subsequent reprinting of the book.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Digital edition published in 2015

Digital edition: 978-1-62788-335-1

Softcover edition: 978-1-63159-054-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Underwood, Melanie R.

Making artisan cheesecake : expert techniques for creating your own creative and classic recipes / Melanie Underwood.

pages cm

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-63159-054-2

1. Cheesecake. I. Title.

TX773.U44 2015

641.8653--dc23

2015005403

Cover and Book Design: Kathie Alexander

Page Layout: tabula rasa graphic design

Photography:Marcus Tullis/marcustullis.com

Food styling: Melanie Underwood and Sharon Gutstadt

This book is dedicated to my mom, Mildred, who taught me strength, courage, and chutzpah.

What I have always loved about baking is the enjoyment and delight on peoples faces; whether they are learning a new skill or receiving a baked good, baking makes everyone happy. I also love the creativity and flexibility baking offers. But, as a chef instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education for the past nineteen years, I often hear, baking isnt creative or you have to be so precise in baking.

My goal in writing this book is simple, and it is the same goal I have in teaching: to alleviate fears in baking and help people feel comfortable in changing recipes and bringing their personality to what they bake. Many people want to have a recipe that works and just make it, without thinking of how to change it. The recipes in this book offer that, but for those of you who want to play and develop your own recipes, dont be afraid! My goal is always to write recipes that taste amazing and look gorgeous but are also simple to replicate. Cheesecake is so versatile: It can be served sweet, savory, simple, or special.

There is a mystery around cheesecake that should not be there. Cheesecakes are a wonderful choice to make. They can be made in advance and, more important, they are very impressive! By following a few simple techniques, it is one of the easiest things to make. I hope to share my love of cheesecake through these techniques and recipes.

PANS

Whether you choose a springform pan, push pan, or cake pan, your baking pan is the most important tool for making cheesecake. Springform pans come in two pieces, a bottom and a side piece with a latch on the side that is released when you are ready to remove the cake from the pan. Springform pans come in a variety of shapes, including round, square, rectangular, oval, and heart-shaped. They can be made from aluminum, nonstick materials, and silicone, and some even have glass bottoms.

Push pans also are two pieces, with a bottom and a side. A push pan bottom fits inside the side piece and is pushed up when the cake is ready to be removed. Some have a silicone ring around the edge to ensure no leaking. These are usually made from aluminum or nonstick materials.

Cake pans can also be used. The benefit is that these ensure that no water leaks into the cake while baking in a water bath. But, they can be more difficult to remove, as you need to invert the cake pan onto a cardboard cake circle covered in plastic wrap, tap the pan to loosen the cheesecake, and then invert the cake onto a serving plate. I like to wrap the bottom and sides of springform and push pans in foil to help alleviate potential leaks.

OTHER IMPORTANT TOOLS

Digital scale, measuring cups, measuring spoons, liquid measures: Invest in a good-quality small digital scale to measure your cheeses. Measuring cups, measuring spoons, and liquid measures are necessary to have in baking.

Rubber spatula: There is a lot of scraping down the sides of the bowl when making cheesecake; a spatula is a must-have.

Whisk: The perfect tool for combining ingredients, beating eggs. and whipping cream.

Electric mixer: Although not necessary to make cheesecake, an electric mixer makes mixing batters much faster and easier. Either a stand mixer or a handheld mixer will work, but a stand mixer allows you more freedom, as you dont have to hold it while it is mixing.

Roasting pan or baking sheet with rim: You want to have a pan with a least / inch (1.3 cm) rim to use for the water bath. Any good-quality baking sheet or roasting pan will do. Make sure it is wide enough to accommodate the circumference of the pan. Almost all recipes in this book use a 10-inch (25 cm) pan.

Small offset spatula: This is a great tool for smoothing out the top of the cheesecake batter, swirling batter, or even making repairs on the sides or top after it is baked.

Cardboard cake circle: You can always serve the cheesecake directly on the bottom of the springform or push pan, but I prefer to put the cheesecake on a cardboard cake circle. Make sure you use a cake circle that fits your cheesecake exactly; if you make a 10-inch (25 cm) cheesecake, you will need a 10-inch (25 cm) cake circle. This makes decorating the sides of the cheesecake easier.

Knives: For cutting cheesecake, the best knife is a long, thin, sharp, straight-sided blade. Place the entire blade under very hot water (alternatively, if you have a deep container, fill it with hot water and dip the blade in this), wipe dry with a kitchen towel, immediately place the knife in the center of the cake, and press all the way down to the crust. Pull the knife straight out and place or dip the blade in hot water, wiping the knife dry and repeating this process until you have the cake cut into the number of desired pieces.