A Small and Tall Cheesecake

A classic for those of us who don't have an army to feed

Between sips of coffee gone cold, and later on, soup that cooled to unpleasantly tepid, I worked on presenting to you this recipe. I am deadline oriented, you see. Now, that doesn’t mean I do well with other people’s deadlines. Those just mean work. I enjoy the kind I set for myself. Having a strange sense of being fiercely self-motivated but yet also an extreme procrastinator creates quite the conundrum. However, when I say I’m going to do a thing, I do a thing. My word is gold.

I’ve long wanted to share my recipes but having been 5 years removed from the blogging world, I kept dragging my feet. The limit of 2200 Instagram characters has finally driven me outside of those parameters to seek a place where I have enough words to share a fully formed recipe. Thank you to all of you in the IG food community for being so incredibly kind, generous, and encouraging. I’ve found such a beautiful place of community that I didn’t expect to find, especially when we all needed it the most in Covidland.

I’ve shared before how cheesecake is my son’s favorite dessert. As my family dwindles in size, kids off to college and so on, I’ve found that tiny desserts give me hope for frugality while also fulfilling my desire to waste less. In general, no one on earth needs a full-sized cheesecake I’ve found. A little goes a very long way. I used to be known for cheesecakes, but I started pretending like I didn’t know how to make them. Because, well, I won’t lie. Cheesecakes require the most expensive ingredient, time. Making a cheesecake doesn’t require a lot of active time fortunately, but it does require thinking ahead and giving yourself enough time for the process of cooling and then chilling it overnight. In the end, it’s completely worth it. 

The Recipe —

Click HERE for a printable version.

A Small and Tall Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

Equipment Needed:

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6-Inch Round Cheesecake Pan (I really love this one.)

8x8 Pan

Instant Read Thermometer (My Favorite affordable option)

Ingredients

For Filling:

2 (8 Oz) Boxes of Cream Cheese at room temperature (I mean it people, room temp.)

2 Large Eggs at room temp

¼ C. Crème Fraiche (2 oz.) at room temp (See Note.)

½ C. White Sugar (3.5 oz.)

¼ t. Kosher Salt

1 t. Lemon Zest

1 t. Vanilla Bean Paste (I love Nielson-Massey’s. See Note.)

For Crust:

4-5 Full Graham Crackers (2.75 oz. depending on the brand) or ¾ C. Graham Cracker Crumbs

3 Finger Pinch of Kosher Salt (I used Diamond Kosher)

3 T. Butter (unsalted, but salted is fine too), melted

1 T. Sugar, optional (See Note)

For Sour Cream Topping:

½ C. (4 oz.) Sour Cream

1 T. White Sugar

Instructions:

Oven: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Move one rack to the center.

Crust: To prepare the crust, add graham crackers to the food processor. Pulse until coarse crumbs form. Next, add butter and salt. Pulse again until the crumbs resemble sand lightly washed over by a wave and hold together when pressed. Press into the pan with your hands or a flat-bottomed glass or measuring cup, slightly sloping up against the sides. Bake for 8-10 minutes until fragrant and slightly brown. Remove from the oven and set on the cooling rack while making the filling.

Filling:

Using the paddle attachment in a stand mixer, beat the room temp (I meant it) cream cheese until completely smooth, at least 3-4 minutes, no lumps allowed, thank you very much. Next, add the sugar and salt. Beat again for a few minutes on medium, making sure to scrape down the bowl so everything is incorporated. On low add the eggs one at a time and mix fully. Lastly, add the crème fraiche, lemon zest, and vanilla. Scrape down one more time and give the whole thing one last whirl for a few minutes.

Assemble and Bake:

Wrap the cheesecake pan in foil for insurance. Boil water in the meantime. Pour filling into the crust lined pan, smoothing the top. Add cheesecake pan to 8X8 pan and fill with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the pan.

Bake for 55-60 minutes until starting to brown and still has a slight wobble. If your oven temp is correct, this should be enough time. If it’s still too wobbly, give it 5-10 minutes longer. The 100% fail proof way to gauge cheesecake doneness is by taking its temperature. Cheesecake is way too much work to gamble on people. Use a thermometer, trust me. It is fully done and angelically creamy at 150 degrees F.

Cool: Once you believe you have the correct doneness, turn off the oven and prop the oven door open with whatever won’t burn the house down, just a crack. Leave the whole situation in there for 30 minutes. After that time passes, carefully take the pans out, removing the cheesecake pan, and setting it on a wire rack until room temp around 2 hours (are you seeing a theme?)

Topping:

Right before chilling the cheesecake, simply whisk sugar and sour cream together until smooth. When the cheesecake is cool, spread the topping over the cheesecake, smoothing with an offset spatula. A spoon makes a simple swirl. No need to be fancy. Cheesecake is fancy enough as is, right?

Chill:

Cover the pan with foil or plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. Ok, if you are impatient, chill for 6 hours.

Serving:

Using a sharp knife, run it around the edges of the pan. Remove from cheesecake and slice with a knife that has been dipped in hot water. Top with fresh berries simply macerated in sugar or just as is. Serve and wait. Closed eyes and sighs of rapture will ensue. You will be loved and adored. Trust me.

Ingredient Notes:

I love the extra tanginess Crème Fraiche offers, but you could sub sour cream or whipping cream in its place. However, Crème Fraiche is so easy to make. In a jar combine 1 cup of Heavy Whipping Cream and 1 tablespoon of Buttermilk. Stir together in a jar and let sit at room temperature for 12 hours. You’ll know it’s ready when it is thick. It will be like a mix between whipping cream and sour cream. It’s luscious and worth the extra step. You can use the rest in place of sour cream for other dishes.

You can sub 1-2 t. vanilla extract for the vanilla bean paste, or if you’re feeling especially swanky, the scrapings of one real vanilla bean. You can’t really go wrong with any of these options, but I do love the beauty and fragrance real vanilla bean paste or beans add to the final product.

You can purchase pre-crumbed graham crackers. Simply measure ¾ cup and mix in the melted butter and salt (and sugar if you like.) I prefer a crust that isn’t too sweet as the cheesecake is already so rich. If you like a crust that’s slightly sweeter, add the extra sugar. You do you.

Btw, thank you so much for being here. It means the world to me!

Questions? Comment below, and I’ll do my very best to help.