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A Really Rich Cheesecake

Source of Recipe

From "See You on Sunday" by Sam Sifton


Recipe Introduction

"This is a Craig Claiborne recipe, luxurious and rich, that has become a close friend. Claiborne published it in The New York Times in 1963, when he had the same job at the newspaper that I have now. It is absolutely a New York cheesecake, with none of the savory elements of a ricotta-based Italian-style one, and I can hardly improve on its excellence, except when I use the cake, not as a showstopper dessert in and of itself but as an *ingredient* in a showstopper dessert, as the filling for an after-dinner calzone. And that too is not my recipe, but one I picked up from the great pizza chef Mark Iacono. One night I was in his restaurant, Lucali, in Brooklyn, and he put slices of cheesecake onto half of a stretched round of pizza dough, then topped the cake with macerated strawberries and folded the rest of the dough over their top to form a turnover. He baked it in the oven, then served it under a dusting of confectioners' sugar. It was crazy making in its deliciousness, and I started to cook a similar calzone at home to provide the capstone to pizza-night Sunday suppers. This cake provides the best filling."

List of Ingredients

For the crust:
â—¦ 1 cup all-purpose flour
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon sugar
â—¦ 1 teaspoon lemon zest
â—¦ 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
â—¦ 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the filling:
â—¦ Five 8-ounce packages cream cheese
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
â—¦ 1 teaspoon lemon zest
â—¦ 1 ¾ cups sugar
â—¦ 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
â—¦ 5 large eggs
â—¦ 2 large egg yolks
â—¦ ¼ cup heavy cream



Recipe

Heat the oven to 400° F.

To prepare the crust:
Combine the flour, sugar, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Add the egg yolk and vanilla. Mix again to combine. Pat one-third of the dough over the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with the sides removed. Bake in the oven for about 6 minutes, until golden. Cool.

Butter the sides of the pan and attach to the bottom. Pat the remaining dough around the sides to a height of 2 inches.
Increase the heat to 475° F.

To prepare the filling:
Beat the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer until fluffy. Add the vanilla and lemon zest. In another bowl, combine the sugar, flour, and salt, then gradually blend the mixture into the cream cheese mixture. Beat in the eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, then the cream. Beat well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place the pan on a sheet pan. Bake the cake for 8 to 10 minutes.

Reduce the heat to 200° F.
Bake for one hour longer, or until the cake is set. Turn off the heat and allow the cake to remain for 30 minutes in the oven with the door ajar. Cool in the pan on a rack for an hour or so, then turn it onto a plate and chill in the refrigerator.
Serve plain or topped with fruit, plain or macerated.